Like a painting on the wall
by Bowl0f0ranges
Summary: The afternoon Laura had decided to gather herself and go out on the streets of Dallas to sing, she had never thought a gloomy vampire would help her to accomplish even two tasks more on her list. But this unexpected encounter changed both of them and was the beginning of an unusual acquaintance ...
1. Chapter 1

„You're sittin' here for hours now, young lady – are you waiting for somethin'?"

The sudden attention paid to her person ripped her out of her daydreams. Surprised by his regard, she blinked a few times and examined the elderly man sitting on a card box in the corner of the street. The street lamp shone on him like a spotlight and let him look even shabbier than he already did. His clothes where covered in dust as well as the little she could see of his face and hands. With a fisher-hat - that obviously was past its prime - on his head and fingerless gloves, which where already falling apart, as the rest of his clothes were, he sat there cross-legged and played on his instrument.

In contrast to him and his whole appearance his accordion seemed very neat. Laura even suspected, that he had took his time to polish it before he came here.

He had stopped playing and started to put his precious instrument in it's case, while his eyes darted in her direction every once in a while. Lent to a tree trunk right on the sidewalk, she had listened to the incredibly melancholy sounds he conjured from his accordion - and obviously she had lost track of time. The sun had already set and she was not an inch nearer to her goal, than the time she had left her apartment in the afternoon.

Originally, she had planned to get her butt out and on the street to sing. Not on this street in particular - but generally on the street. She always wanted to sing in front of people and where was it easier to find listeners, than in the streets of a city as big as Dallas? But as making music was a way to express her feelings and passions in a tangible, perceptible form, so far her chicken-hearted side had clearly maintained the upper hand and she had passed all the potential places, she would have had an audience – just for the simple reason: _BECAUSE_ she would have had audience.

Actually she was quite a loner and therefore neither used to, nor very keen on showing her feelings to strangers. Turned out to be quite a problem in this case ...

She had ended up listening to various other musicians instead of playing music herself and spent all her money, because she would have felt guilty, if she had simply passed them by. By the time she had accepted, that she wouldn't be able to sing one single tone at this time of the day (because there were clearly too many people on the streets), she went back to the musician she liked the most, sat down under a nearby tree and ate a few slices of rusk in the late afternoon sun.

And here she was – apparently hours later – inspected by a quite skilled, potentially homeless old man. By the time she had left her appartement – well, the one of her grandma to be precise – her honey-coloured hair was tied up in a neat bun. Now a few wisps fell into her face and the bun itself was more loose and hung a few inches lower than intended and let her seem more easygoing than she really was.

In fact she was quite the control freak. She had made her first timetable when she was four, in order that she would never forget to feed her rat Steward (she had always hoped he would start to talk to her like Steward Little – certainly her childish hopes had been dashed) - though she tried not to be overly organized for a couple of months now. At least her accurate manner came handy with her pill schedule ...

She sighed and absentmindedly brushed a few crumbs of her afternoon-snack off her skirt and arranged it neatly over her petticoat. It was black and had ribbons in different colours and shapes appliqued. Since she had been a bit chubby in high school, she had fallen in love with the 50s style and how it simultaneously emphasized female curves and concealed other not so convenient ones. That also was about the time she became interested in fashion and began to sew a little. Up until now most of the clothes in her wardrobe were self-made – as the ones she wore this particular night.

"Well … not exactly", she mumbled and bit on her lip, "Just killing time". To cover up her own dismay of her daydreaming (where the heck had the time just gone?) she shrugged her shoulders and mustered the musician. Though she admired his skill, she could have done well without this pitying look he had for her ...

"No offense, Miss, but you shouldn't be 'round here at night – alone . I'm goin' back to my shack – you'll get along?", he asked and he sounded genuinely concerned. Well, now she at least new he had a roof over his head...

A bit taken aback by his unexpected kindness she muttered a "I'm a big girl – I'll manage ..." and watched as he just nodded and gathered his few things.

Actually she was 19 years old, but with her delicate, almost fragile figure she was often deemed younger than she was. An adult in the eye of the law, but still not allowed to drink alcohol – how hypocritical... Sometimes she longed for this feeling that special liquid supposedly procures, described as stunning and simultaneously mood improving. She would definitely write drinking some on her to-do-list – maybe in combination with visiting a country where it was allowed to consume it at her age ...

As the accordion player was gone, she looked around and scanned the area for unwelcome company. It was already quite dark and the street lights had been activated some time ago. The tree she was sat under and her own silhouette cast long shadows on the sidewalk, as well as the other trees along the alley.

Only a few people were still on the go and those who had passed her by, were all in a hurry and not the least interested in her or her intentions.

And this was perfect - it was her moment!

She carefully unzipped the envelope of her ukulele, pulled her instrument out and laid the cover on the ground in front of her. Just because she couldn't stand audience, didn't mean she wouldn't at least pretend to earn a little money by singing for others!

She lightly brushed over the surface of her ukulele in a tender movement. It was quite scratched and eventually the sudden inspiration to paint it, once infested her and so she had drawn convoluted, geometric ornaments with black varnish on the reddish wood to cover the scratches. She was quite content with her work – but with time she regretted her act. Life had taught her to appreciate the simple things more and more. She had learned to accept things as they were – the purer and more natural, the better. At the very least scratches and scars told stories of an eventful life. Mostly.

Fortunately the sound of her instrument was not effected by her creative excess on its exterior. She played a few beats of an Irish lullaby to get a feeling for the strings and proceeded to the first song a few minutes later. Hesitantly she started to sing the first few lines of 'Clocks', while still scanning the area around her. She liked to hear songs about life and death lately, therefore it was just plausible she also sang those songs she enjoyed the most.

The more time passed and the longer she stayed alone, the more confident she grew. Totally dedicated to the music she started swaying to the beat at some point, with eyes closed, still sitting on the roots of her tree.

When she opened her eyes again she was just singing 'Far from any road', but immediately fell silent at the sight in front of her. She even had trouble keeping her ukulele from kissing the ground because of it. Was it really necessary to scare the bejesus out of her?!

A boy was leaning totally relaxed against the wall next to her, just a few feet away. Well - she assumed it was a boy, she couldn't see much of him. He wore a dark sweater with the hood pulled over his head and half his face, while his hands were buried in his pockets. Both - his trousers and his hoodie - were very loose and let plenty of scope for the imagination.

"Pardon me, Miss. I did not intend to scare you. Your voice allured me ... If I have frightened you, I am truly sorry!"

His voice was deep and smooth and she caught herself wishing, he would continue talking to her. He had a sort of accent she couldn't quite put her finger on, but it sounded lovely. While she enjoyed the sonority of his voice, the content put her a little off her stride.

She had never sung in front of another person – not even in front of her parents (at least not intentionally) – so his statement, that he felt her voice 'alluring', was something new to her. Laura could not prevent a telltale heat rising in her cheeks, but because of the sparse lighting, she hoped it would remain unnoticed by her opposite.

"Would it be too much to request you, to start singing again?", he asked and she could vaguely see him titling his head to the side. Unfortunately, his movement allowed her no further insight into his face, so she curiously leaned forward a little and tried her luck from a lower angle. Now she would have had a quite good peek at his face, but the shadow of his hood made it impossible for her to make anything out. Slightly disappointed she strengthened the grip on her instrument and sat back against the tree trunk again.

"If it is not too much to ask you, to take off your hood, then I might think about it ..." she tried to persuade him with a light grin on her face, but continued in a slightly harsher tone, "I don't like speaking – let alone singing - to someone who hasn't at least the courtesy to show me his face!"

It was not her intention to be rude, but she felt uneasy, not being able to look into his eyes. He could be a serial killer for all she knew! Shifting his weight from one foot the the other he seemed a bit irritated and hesitated for a while before he replied, "I am afraid I would frighten you …"

She couldn't stop a dry lough escaping her mouth. So he, in all seriousness, thought his mummed appearance would let her feel more at ease, than if he just showed his face? What a weird guy ...

"Do you have a scar on your face?", she blurted out with a raised eyebrow, as she had collected her thoughts.

"No."

"Do you miss an eye?"

"... No."

"Your nose?"

"No. I am absolutely positive that all parts of my body are in place.", he replied dryly. She could nearly feel his displeasure of her little mocking. But she didn't really care – she only just had discovered this teasing side of herself, but she definitely liked it!

"Good. Then I don't understand why I should be scared of your face!", she simply stated and crossed her arms in front of her chest with her Ukulele somewhere in between. It must have looked awkward, but she tried to look as self-confident as possible and expectantly stared at him.

He glanced at her for a brief moment, before he reluctantly raised his hands to the hood and brushed it back. And she was positively staggered by the sight revealed in front of her.

Laura had already been set for a monumental conk or at least a face covered with pimples, but in fact she just got the permission to lay her eyes on one of the most beautiful faces she had ever seen. One of the variety, which you would want to take a picture of, would like to draw …

He had a prominent jawline with a slightly pointed chin. The shadows that cast over his subtly bowed head accented his characteristics even more. His lightly curved lips were pressed together in a tight line and gave him a fraught look. Because of the lack of light she couldn't quite tell his eye colour, but she estimated it would fit as perfectly to his appearance, as his other features did.

But aside from his delicate facial attributes and captivating eyes, she noticed that his skin was so pale, that it almost reflected the dim light of the street lamp. Was that the reason why he had covered his face?

"You are a vampire."

At this statement he sighed, closed his eyes and nodded. His relaxed posture vanished, but he tried to remain calm and put his hands back into his pockets. "I would not be surprised if you wanted me to leave ..."

Now she was truly baffled. He thought she wanted him to leave? What a misinterpretation! She was delighted to finally meet a vampire – it was even on her list: 'meet a vampire and talk to him (if he is kind enough not to kill you before you have the chance to)'.

She ran her gaze over his torso and watched as his appearance turned from tense to slumped. His shoulders were hunched forward and his head was also bowed. In addition, a small fold had formed between his eyebrows, which gave him a downright pained expression.

"No, I don't want you to... Normally I can't stand people listening to me, that's why I'm here at this time of day – ahem, well night. I'm too much of a chicken to sing in front of an audience – even if I'd love to. But hey – at some point I have to start to pull myself together, why not start now?"

Laura tried to give him the most honest and reassuring smile she could manage. She had no idea what kind of thoughts tormented him, and she doubted greatly, that he would want to confide in a 19 year old girl - whatever it was. So her only opportunity was to cheer him up with a little bit of human kindness - and music.

While she had spoken, he had opened his eyes and lifted his head. His look changed to an expressionless, but when she smiled at him the corner of his mouth twitched ever so slightly upward.

They looked at each other for a while, until she finally realized that he probably wanted her to begin singing. Embarrassed, she cleared her throat and tugged away at the strings of her ukulele.

"I should probably start ... I think I already know which song I'd like to sing for you."

She broke the eye contact and tried as best she could to focus on her instrument. Some beats playing ahead with the ukulele, she began to sing with an initially quite shaky voice.

"The rain had started tapping  
>On the window near my bed<br>There was a loophole in my dreaming  
>So I got out of it<br>And to my surprise my eyes were wide  
>And already open<br>Just my nightstand and my dresser  
>Where those nightmares had just been<p>

So I dressed myself and left then  
>Out into the gray streets<br>But everything seemed different  
>Completely new to me<br>The sky, the trees, houses, buildings  
>Even my own body<br>And each person I encountered  
>I couldn't wait to meet"<p>

At this point she felt comfortable enough to look up at the vampire-boy in front of her and when she did so, she encountered his very attentive expression as their eyes met.

"And I came upon a doctor  
>Who appeared in quite poor health<br>I said, "There's nothing I can do for you  
>You can't do for yourself"<br>He said, "Oh, yes you can, just hold my hand  
>I think that that would help"<br>So I sat with him a while  
>And I asked him how he felt<br>He said, "I think I'm cured  
>No, in fact I'm sure of it<br>Thank you stranger  
>For your therapeutic smile"<p>

So that's how I learned the lesson  
>That everyone's alone<br>And your eyes must do some raining  
>If you're ever gonna grow<br>When crying don't help, you can't compose yourself  
>It's best to compose a poem<br>An honest verse of longing  
>Or a simple song of hope<p>

We'll keep working on the problem  
>We know we'll never solve<br>Of love's uneven remainders  
>Our lives are fractions of a whole<br>But if the world could remain within a frame  
>Like a painting on a wall<br>Then I think we'd see the beauty then  
>And stand staring in awe<p>

At our still lives posed  
>Like a bowl of oranges<br>Like a story told  
>By the fault lines and the soil"<p>

The closer the song came to its end, the more his gaze won on intensity and even if she at first had rather avoided it, she could not avert her glance, as soon as they had eye contact. It was almost as if he would enchant her in some kind of way and of course vampires did have these special skills, but she doubted he actively contributed something to this fascination she felt at his sight. Rather, she had the feeling that her subconscious forced her to savor the moment as best she could – who knew if she would ever come so close to a vampire again, and a decidedly handsome one at that ...

When the last tone of her ukulele died away, she could just smile at him – a little embarrassed. This particular song had the ability to cheer her up every time she listened to it, and though she had skipped a phrase it perhaps might as well have helped a little, to let him see a few things from a slightly different perspective.

Because her experience had taught her, that most problems were just a question of perspective...

She cleared her throat uncomfortably, when he hadn't been moving the tiniest bit after a few minutes and was afraid her song selection had upset him, when he suddenly closed his eyes, exhaled slowly and ... unexpectedly smiled at her.

Another hook more on her list: 'make a stranger smile'.

"This was an remarkably lovely choice of yours … Thank you.", he whispered, still smiling slightly. She couldn't prevent her cheeks from blushing again and with the knowledge, that he was a vampire and indeed able to see it, she turned even redder. A bit angry about her bodies reaction she attempted to cover her face in a humorous way by holding the body of her Ukulele in front of it.

As she had calmed down again, she let her instrument sink in her lap, quickly glanced at his face and was met by an amused grin. She just shrugged her shoulders to downplay her previous performance and began to ship her Ukulele in its case again. With practiced hands it was quickly stowed and placed in her backpack.

"Well … I'm going home – it's quite late ..." she began softly and sat up against the tree trunk.

She was often dizzy when she stood up too quickly, so she leaned against the trunk to keep her balance.

Her counterpart pushed himself off the wall, was in front of her within a second and bestowed an almost worried look on her. She had to smile at the thought. A vampire was worried about a human girl with equilibrium problems – and this Newlin guy asserted, vampires would be creatures of Satan and have no compassion.

"I would like to escort you home. It is not wise to wander the streets alone at night. You would represent a tempting prey for my kind...", he explained with a smooth voice.

Laura turned and looked at him just before she nodded gently. What was the worst that could happen? If he had wanted to hurt her, he would have done it half an hour ago!

After the first few steps, she realized that she was probably not feeling the best, but before she could fall back to the tree trunk to grab a hold, an arm had wrapped around her shoulders and steadied her.

"I fear you are not in the constitution to walk home now. Let me carry you to your residence – it would take only a fraction of the time, we would need to walk. I just need you to direct the way..."

"You can't carry me all the way home - that's way too far," she stammered and looked at him in horror. Only now she was aware of how close they were and as if he had guessed her thoughts, she felt his grip around her shoulder loosen a little.

As she could see now, his eyes had the color of fern leaves – something in between green and grey. They gave him an thoroughgoing enigmatic appearance - she had never seen anybody with such an eyecolour, but as she had assumed it fit marvelously to his aspect...

He only smiled at her in a mild way and before she knew it, he had grabbed under her knees with his other arm and lifted her up. She barely managed to suppress a scream – that wouldn't have been particularly pleasant for his over-sensitive ears ...

"Believe me. Carrying your petite body will not demand the slightes effort from me", he laughed while he examined her, "Now … the directions please?!"

He stood still, with her in his arms and expectantly gazed down at her. Did she even want him to bring her home yet? She could just as well sit a little longer under the tree with him. But it was probably already too late to backtrack ...

She murmured a short description of the directions into his shoulder and then leaned her head against it. His body felt much more muscular than she had thought...

The cold night air quickly passed her by. He had to be traveling at an insane speed, but she didn't dare to open her eyes. She couldn't take the risk of getting sick – fast movements tended to make her uncomfortable.

The thought that their paths would separate soon, pricked worse at her than she had thought possible. She had just become acquainted with this vampire, my god – she didn't even know his name! Since she came to Dallas she had obviously been more lonesome than she had realized before. Probably this was the reason why she felt so attached to this stranger ...

"We have arrived," he breathed into her ear, as he suddenly came to a halt and she lifted her head a little, to take a look around.

They really were in her neighborhood - no, they even stood in front of the main entrance of her residential building. Barely two minutes ago, he had lifted her up into his arms and now they were already at their destination?!

The handsome stranger carefully put her to the ground and continued to support her, as she parted from him, still a little shaky.

"Thank you. That was very kind of you," she managed to rasp and walked as confident as possible to the main door. She didn't know what was left for her to say and although she desperately wanted to extend the time in his company, she wasn't able to find a plausible reason for them to keep talking, even less a reason for them to stay in touch.

He watched from a few feets distance, as she dug her key out and unlocked the door. She opened it just a few inches but paused for a moment, while neither of them said a word. Sighing, she opened the door fully and wanted to close it behind her, but suddenly stopped in her movement, as a thought crossed her mind.

"I don't even know your name," she whispered through the half closed door, knowing he would catch her every word. At least she didn't want to be forced to think of him as 'handsome stranger' or something ...

"Godric," he replied immediately and with the blink of an eye he stood a few steps closer to her.  
>"Pardon?", she blurted out confused, opened the door a little more and eyed him perplex. She was a bit taken aback by his speed and wasn't really able to comprehend what he had said at that moment.<p>

"My name is Godric", he told her and closed the gap between them with a few graceful steps, "Should you ever be threatened by vampires in this area, tell them you are under my protection and no harm will come upon you."

She looked at him with wide eyes and gulped, secretly hoping, that she would never be in such a situation. Her first collision with a vampire was, according to his descriptions, probably a lucky strike. She definitely had more luck than judgement.

"Thank you Godric. I don't know how I'm ever going to make it up to you ..."

He smiled gently and slowly put a finger under her chin. She would have had enough time to avert her head, but instead she pointedly stood his gaze.

"There is no need." he whispered, rubbing his thumb gently over her chin as he lifted it softly. Even though he was not particularly tall for a man, he was still a few inches taller than herself and she had to look up to meet his eyes.

"But I would really like to know your name ..." he finally broke through the silence after some hesitation. A smile began to spread across her face. He showed some sort of interest in her, perhaps she would see him again after all ...

"Laura Freeman", she whispered and instinctively leaned into his touch as his hand grazed up to her cheek. Their eyes were still locked at each other and she had the feeling, he could see right into her soul.

"Laura Freeman", he echoed with his velvety voice and a chill ran down her spine at the sound of her name. She absentmindedly bit on her lower lip and took a deep breath. With a little bit more practice dealing with men, she wouldn't feel that uneasy and self-conscious now. She should have given in to some of the attempts of her friends, to hook her up with somebody. Damn her solitary manner …

He slowly ran his index finger from her temple over her cheek and down to her chin. With every passing second, the feeling that he deliberately twisted her head, grew stronger and apparently her gaze let him guess her thoughts, because a cunning grin formed on his face.

"Maybe we'll meet again, Laura Freeman. Have a good night's rest" he said softly and leaned forward to place a chaste kiss on her forehead. He let go of her chin, turned around and took a few steps into the darkness of the night.

"And thank you for your therapeutic smile", he whispered as he stopped once more for a second.

And with that, he was gone.

**A/N:** As you may have noticed I am not a native speaker - so please have mercy with me...  
>But don't get me wrong: I would really appreciate it, if you could point my mistakes out to me. I would be able to correct them - and everybody would benefit ;)<br>Thanks for reading and every review is immensely appreciated ;)


	2. Chapter 2

When he had left Laura Freeman that night, he had to do so in the fastest way possible: he took off into the darkness of a starless Dallas sky. The urge to stay with her and wait for her to invite him in – which presumably would have occurred if he had not fled her place – was too overwhelming to gamble with. It also would do no harm, to have a sober mind before he returned to his nest again. It would not have been wise to appear there with his thoughts in such a messy condition, as they were in right now.

To be honest, he was quite surprised how much the soothing voice of this reckless young one had touched him. It was safe to say, that he had not been feeling much at all, besides an aching remorse, in the last at least decades – to the dismay of the few vampires he had come to call friends and who had noticed his aloof manner. Some of them had gone to great lengths to improve his mood, needless to say it was to no avail.

He had played with the thought to meet the sun for quite some time now, one could almost say he had already made up his mind about it. In most of his years as a vampire, he had just lived to survive and whereas this was not an easy task throughout his first 700 years or so, his nights grew void when his own strength began to rise beyond those of his enemies and while they decreased in number, he became aware of his loneliness.

It took him a few hundred years to find a worthy companion, but Eric had definitely paid off the many solitary nights he had spent searching for him. His progeny had taught him the joy of companionship and he learned to be a father, a brother, a son – at times even a lover. Never before had he had the fortune, to have someone he could rely on, he could care for - and who cared for him as well.

At the thought of his progeny, a faint smile flitted over his indifferent mask and before he properly thought about it, he opened up their bond for a tiny amount, just enough to catch a brief glimpse of his sons emotional condition and let him know, that he himself was fine.

And indeed, he felt better, more alive, than in a long time – and all just because of a petite, young woman. To hear this clear, alluring voice sing about life and it's finiteness with humorous, as well as melancholy phrases, stirred something inside of him, that he had thought long gone. She had been alone for a reason and still she hadn't chased him away, no, she even went out of her way and sang one of the most beautiful and wise songs for him, he had ever heard.

A comfortable warmth spread in his chest when he thought about how Laura had reacted to him after he had revealed himself. She had immediately known, that he was a vampire but had neither shown fear of him, nor offered him her blood or body, as it was disgustingly common nowadays. It was sort of refreshing to encounter such an innocent but simultaneously broad-minded being.

It took all his over 2000 years of practice, to suppress a grin when he pictured her face in his mind, a few moments before he had left her. Her bewildered look had made it plainly obvious to him, that she hadn't had the slightest experience with men and to his shame he had to admit, that this thought pleased him in an unforeseen way.

Since the paths of him and his progeny had parted, he had lost any relation to this world, that was left to this point. The insatiable greed for retaliation his son felt, was something he couldn't tolerate, let alone comprehend anymore. Every one of his attempts to lead his progeny on a less cruel and dangerous path had been in vain – his reasoning had fallen on deaf ears and that disappointed him tremendously. At that time he had lost the hope for his kind to evolve, because he lost the faith in any change of attitude of his own son. His dream of a peaceful coexistence with the human world collapsed like a house of cards.

But now an imprudent, young human had achieved, that he started to reconsider his mindset. Through the tender and kind demeanor she had approached an unknown vampire with – _him_, of all who could have found her – she had shown him, that at least the human species was ready to alter their course. It was a straw he was willing to clutch on.

As a curious feeling that did not belong to him flooded through his body, he was rudely reminded of the still open bond to his progeny and immediately closed it again. Shocked by his own unmindful behavior just moments ago, he shot even higher to cool down at last.

By the time he reached the outermost shell of the atmosphere, he had regained his control and started to decrease his speed until he came to a halt. It was comfortingly silent out here and one of the places he preferred to retreat to. Being a vampire had its benefits ...

He came there to cool down whenever it was necessary and he was not capable of doing so in any other way. A few nights ago he would not have given in to such an immature intuition, as to seek a connection to his son, he hadn't had contact with for decades. His improved mood had obviously clouded his thoughts, something he would not allow to happen again. Something that should not have happened in the first place!

He was not just any vampire, he was the sheriff of area 9 and one of the most powerful creatures in the new world. He had responsibilities – many lives depended on him. He could not let his feelings dictate his decisions and actions. It would undermine his authority and sophisticate the picture everyone of his underlings had of Death, if he showed his emotions. To be always capable of showing an inscrutable appearance, was one of hist most beneficial and necessary abilities. It was simultaneously the best attack and the most effective defense.

But even with his over 2000 years of practice in self-control, it was hard for him to suppress such strong and welcome feelings, as the encounter of the young one had triggered.

He took an unnecessary breath of thin air as he descended and let go of his thoughts. It was the best for all involved, if he forgot Laura Freeman and her lovely voice as soon as possible. Right now preferably ...

He was a savage murderer after all – at least he had been – and he would just bring misery upon her sooner or later. If she had known of his past, she certainly would have fled from him in fear or disgustedly spitted into his face. Neither was he worth listening to her soothing voice, nor her presence or her time. Seeing her again, would do her no service ...

With cold concrete under his feet once more, he strolled to his nest at human speed, observing the passing cars. The world around him had changed so quickly in the last decades and centuries, he was still astounded by the many technical achievements. From candles to light bulbs, from telegrams to short messages and cell phones – now smart phones (as if a technical device could be referred to as 'smart'), it was sometimes hard to keep up with the times. But despite their share to atmospheric pollution, he had always had an obsession with automobiles – but especially motorcycles. Presumably it had something to do with his passion for speed. Time also changes habits and preferences, so it seems.

As he reached his residence, he forced his thoughts into nothingness, ignored Isabel's worried questions and went straight to his room.

This was one of the rare nights he welcomed the imminent sunrise. In sleep he was not bound to pretend to be someone, he was not anymore. And he was so very tired of pretending …

* * *

><p>The next night seemed to be business as usual. He sorted through the piles of paperwork on his desk, while Isabel attacked him with questions of his whereabouts last night. Obviously his apathetic mask had not been as convincing, as he had hoped. When she didn't stop her bothersome queries despite his constant silentness, he bestowed a warning glare on her, which prompted her to fall quiet immediately. It was difficult enough not to think of the petit human, even without Isabel's undesirable interrogation, she needed not to rub salt into the wound...<p>

He just went through the requests of settlement in his area around midnight, as he heard someone tearing the front door to his mansion open and after a whoosh of air his blond Viking kneeled in front him.

He should have known, that Eric wouldn't leave it at that …

"Master", his progeny uttered submissively and bowed his head. They had not seen each other for a long time and the circumstances of their parting had been bitter. It was no surprise that he would react as he did, the moment he came into his makers sight.

"No need for such courtesies, son", Godric simply stated in a calm voice and rose from his chair to round his office desk and come to stand in front of the Viking. "You may stand up!"

Eric immediately rose and let his investigative gaze run over his makers appearance. He obviously hadn't fed in a while, as his – even for their kind – unhealthy paleness exhibited. Worried, but also curious about yesterdays display of emotions, he gestured questioningly to the seat in front of the desk and sat down as he received a silent nod.

"What brings you here, son?", Godric asked in a smooth voice and leant back against the desk while he crossed the arms over his chest. It was obvious to him, why he had come, but he was curious, if Eric had the courage to admit it, if asked so directly.

"I merely felt the urge to pay my beloved maker a visit", his progeny teased with a crooked smile, but continued after he received a raised eyebrow from his opposite, "But maybe I'm also interested as to why you have been so … _delighted_ yesterday?!"

Godric merely snorted unimpressed and turned to take his seat behind the desk again. Ignoring his unhealthily nosy progeny, he tended to the settlement requests again. If Eric wanted to know anything in particular, he would have to ask him directly.

"It was obviously not a donor – so, did you meet someone?", Eric thought loudly and as his maker paused with his writing for just the blink of an eye, he knew he was on the right trail. "How old is she and how does she look like? Who is her maker? Where did she come from?", it bubbled out of him, but he immediately fell silent when he heard a chuckle escape his makers usually austere mouth.

A _chuckle_. It was at least 500 years since he last had heard Godric chuckle. Eric was astounded but it only fueled his curiosity.

"Please Eric, bother to enlighten me, as to why you are certain I encountered a _vampire_?", Godric challenged him, deposed his pen and interlaced his fingers in front of his face while glaring at his progeny searchingly. It amused him, that he still behaved like the narrow-minded Viking he had turned over 1000 years ago – even if only in a few situations.

Eric's jaw dropped in blatant disbelief, but he soon regained control over his facial expression and coughed, slightly embarrassed. "Why wouldn't you drink from her, if it was a human?", he simply asked and tried to sound as if it had to be obvious.

"And why do you assume, that we speak of a '_her_'?", Godric asked with a wicked grin, "You of all, should know best, that my tastes tend to change!"

His progeny growled in defiance and leant back in his seat. "You won't tell me anything, will you?", he grumbled, knowing it would be useless to pump his maker further on. "At least tell me the name!", he insisted and stood up, "I've come the whole way from Louisiana – you owe me that at least!"

Godric just chuckled again and shook his head in amusement. "And I thought you merely felt the urge to pay me a visit?!", he reminded his son, but genuinely smiled at him. He watched as Eric's hands started to form a fist, but slackened the next moment as if they had a mind on their own. His progeny sighed defeatedly and just nodded.

"At least it was a pleasure to see, that your mood has improved", he sincerely noted, bowed his head to his maker and turned to leave the room. "And even if it really is a human man, who is responsible for that, I'm still deeply grateful for whatever he's done ..."

Such caring words of his progeny where scarce, but whenever they where spoken, it warmed Godric from the inside. He did not have the heart to let his son leave like that, so he told him what he wanted to know, while he watched his back: "Laura Freeman"

Eric turned in surprise and faced his maker questioningly.

"I will not tell you anything more, but I assume you will screen her anyway", Godric noted in a knowing tone and rested his chin in a relaxed manner on his interlaced fingers, "But do not dare to bother her – do I make myself clear?"

The Viking examined the youthful face of his maker and nodded gently, as his eyebrows started to approach each other. "Crystal clear", Eric stated and couldn't suppress a grin. At least he had a name now. Something to start with …

* * *

><p>The following nights he had little to tend to, so he left the nest to stroll through the city and, while doing so, check if everything was in order. But no matter which direction he pursued, he always found himself on the same street corner, where he had met the delicate, young human. And each time, she was already there and sang the same blue songs as two nights before.<p>

Night after night he listened from the distance to her enchanting voice and it broke his still heart, as he watched her look around between the songs again and again and eventually sigh in disappointment. She hoped to meet him again – that was why she was here. That was the reason she came to this location every night, although she had to traverse the city.

Godric always waited until she had packed up her things and took the bus home and even then, he followed until she stepped out in her neighborhood, to make sure she arrived safely at her residence.

In the fifth night, however, he had decided that things could not go on like that any more. He had to put an end to her nocturnal excursions, they were far too dangerous and he would not be able to be here every night.

The first people he could find nearby, were two young men – probably in their early twenties. They had been drinking – which was unfortunately impossible to miss, thanks to their vile breath – and talking quite loudly about their latest "pickup". They seemed, to be relatively decent – apart from their dubious intentions towards women – so he took the time to start a quick chat with them, before he began to glamour them.

"You will be as rude and insolent towards the singing girl you will meet a few blocks away, as you possibly can. Make sure, that she leaves this place and is intimidated enough to drive straight home and never leave her apartment alone again, after sunset. But under no circumstances are you allowed to touch her!", the ancient vampire demanded of the two motionless figures in front of him. "After you have answered my question you will walk down this road and do what I just said. And you will forget, that you ever met me – have I made myself clear?"

They both answered with "yes" and immediately set out to perform his instructions. He watched them from a nearby rooftop and whereas he was disgusted by their words, they had the requested effect – Laura soon realized that they would not leave her alone anytime soon. She hastily grabbed her few things and called for the next passing cab.

When he made it to this particular street corner the next night, she was not there. As well as every following night, he could just gaze at the empty space she had sat in and listen to the monotone traffic noise.

* * *

><p>Over the next few weeks, his mood reached an unparalleled low. Threats of vampire-hostile organizations piled up and the resentment of his subordinates was already difficult to calm. Especially the death of reverend Newlin drove a wedge between the already crippled relations between humans and vampires, because the Fellowship of the sun blamed his kind for Newlin's death. It was only a matter of time, until the hate speech of the young reverend would require the first victim in his ranks.<p>

The only solution to still calm the waters would be a vampire, who voluntarily delivered himself for every other. The Fellowship would then be in the position to call him to account, in lieu of all other and thereby they would perhaps realize, that it was unrewarding to fight violence with violence.

And that was the reason, why he currently was located in the basement of Mr. Newlin's church. He would burn for all his comrades. And for himself.

The sun will finally obtain his sacrifice ...

It was an unexpectedly comforting feeling to know that everything was soon to end. Nevertheless, he had hoped that they would not let him wait that long. He sat in his cell for over two weeks now, with nothing more than a cot to sleep on and – as you might expect – a Bible.

He had read this book several times in his long life, especially in the last century, but he could not remember any passage that would justify an execution like his. This may have been the reason why they kept him waiting so long. Maybe Mr. Newlin had come to his senses after all …

"Godric. Godric, can you hear me? Isabel and Eric sent us. Godric! I know he's down here somewhere. I heard the awful things they're plannin' to do to him."

He shot up from his sitting position, as he heard a female voice call his name.

She had to be situated in one of the rooms to his left and now tried to calm a man whose voice sounded suspiciously like Isabel's human. Apparently they were not able to perform their plan as anticipated and were now captured just like him. Well, not quite – he had basically the opportunity to break out at any time...

He should have known that Isabel would inform Eric about his disappearance and that he – the Vikings he was – would search for him with all available resources. Disappointed, he shook his head and sat back down on the cot. To implicate humans was truly irresponsible, but the girl seemed to be sure that a certain Bill would save them.

His progeny would thus appear soon and probably other vampires would follow him for support. He closed his eyes tiredly and leant his back against the wall. This was not supposed to happen …

He managed to block the conversations of the two humans and noticed only subconsciously, that Mr. Newlin paid them a short visit once. Totally withdrawn into himself, he sat cross-legged on the concrete floor when he suddenly heard the desperate cries of the girl.

That they had been imprisoned because of him was one thing, but he would not allow that they came to harm through his actions.

Without much effort he rammed down one entire side of the cage and was at the scene within seconds. Gabe was about to lay hands on the young woman, who made every effort to fight back, while Hugo leant unconsciously against the wall.

With a pointed grip he packed this shabby example of the human species on his neck, pulled him away from the petite blonde and made him dangle a few inches over the floor. "Godric, it's me!" After a small movement with his other hand, this particular culprit was finished. Never again would he lay a hand on an unwilling female.

"You should not have come", he declared in a calm voice and watched her attempts to close her lacerated garment. They both turned their heads abruptly in the direction of the basement door, as they heard screams.

"Bill", she shouted in relief, but he had to belie her expectations. "No", he stated imperturbably, and directed his next words to the door, "I'm here my child. Down here."

After a short whoosh his Viking stood before him. "Godric.", Eric whispered and immediately fell to his knees.

"You were a fool for sending humans after me.", the older vampire noted and frustration resonated in his voice.

"I had no other choice. These savages they… they seek to destroy you.", his son tried to reason with him.

"I am aware of what they've planned.", he admits without batting an eye and points in Hugo's direction, "This one betrayed you."

The young woman made herself felt again and interposed, that Hugo had been a member of the Fellowship and lured them into a trap.

"How long has it been since you've fed," his son asked him carefully, obviously ignoring the upset female.

"I require very little blood anymore," he told him quietly when suddenly the alarm went off. "Save the human," he demanded and turned to the blonde woman, "Go with him."

"I'm not leaving your side until you are ...", the viking started but his maker interrupted him with the simple statement "I can take care of myself".

The ruffled female called on the younger vampire to go, but before they reached the door Godric warned him not to shed blood.

Soon after his overzealous son had gone, he left the basement to watch the chaotic mess of running humans from the rooftop. He stoically stood there as some shouted commands, while others simply wanted to escape from the site, until he abruptly felt his sons unbearable pain.

Alarmed, he sought Eric's proximity and was overcome by a blend of misery and pride at the sight in front of him. While he had problems to restrain himself as not to immediately free his son from the silver chains, in which he was chained, he was also incredibly proud that Eric had surrendered without a fight, in order not to hurt anyone.

While he desperately thought of any possible way to free his progeny without harming anyone, this ominous Bill suddenly entered the church and one thing quickly lead to another: an unknown, young man hit the Reverend with a blue bullet to the head, which apparently did no major damage, and distracted him long enough so as to allow the young woman from the basement – Sookie – to rush at his sons side and free him from the silver chains.

Relieved at this unexpected turn, Godric adjourned to the organ and watched the further course of things. But contrary to his belief, that now everything had changed for good, suddenly the door burst open and a horde of vampires stormed in. Each of them immediately grabbed one of the humans and made sure, that they could no longer move.

"Steve Newlin! You have pushed us too far. You expect us to sit on our thumbs while you round up your men to come lynch us? We'll kill you first. Same way we did your father."

He should have known, that this dimwitted vampire would show up sooner or later. Only for political reasons had he appointed Stan as lieutenant, for he was neither reliable, nor very successful at the tasks you imposed on him. But he would never have deemed him stupid enough to assassinate the head of the Fellowship!

"Enough!" he shouted as he finally ran out of patience and stepped forward to the railing. "You came for me I assume, underling."

"Yes sheriff."

"These people have not harmed me. You see? We can coexist. Mr. Newlin, I do not wish to create bloodshed when none is called for. Help me set an example. If we leave you in peace, will you do the same?"

"I will not negotiate with subhumans!", Mr. Newlin contered and struggled to stand up. "Kill me!", he demanded defiantly and stared at Erik with a manic look, "Do it. Jesus will protect me!"

"I am actually older than your Jesus. I wish I could have known him, but I missed it.", Godric informed him coolly and in a flash he stood behind the reverend and grabbed his neck. "Good people, who of you is willing to die for this man's madness?", he addressed the still armed humans.

Silent looks were bandied, but nobody dared to say anything. "That's what I thought. Stand down, everyone. People, go home. It's over now."

Gradually, the humans dropped their weapons and stumbled out of the building. Disregardingly he pushed the hate preacher to his knees and declared in a calm tone: "I daresay my faith in humankind is stronger than yours."

"Come.", he demanded of his underlings, as he started to leave the place.

"Sir. After what these humans have done to you?!", Stan reminded him but was silenced by single, firm "Come!"

Without requiring other words, his subordinates followed Godric silently to his nest. His mood sank even more, as he thought of what was in store for him now...

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Hey there - sorry that it took me so long, but I was on vacation :)

Thanks sooo much for your reviews **downbelowgirl, PrinessFergie, Ilovefashion2001, Lyzz Cullen **and** ElvenVamp** - they are hugely appreciated :)

I hope you're not too disappointed by my Godric-POW but it was necessary - otherwise the gap between the chapters would have been to vast ;) I admid that I thought of writing a Godric-POW for a long time - but it turned out to be a lot harder than I thought and the result is unfortunately nowhere near the one I had in mind -_-

The next chapter will definitely be a Laura-chapter again, but I'm afraid, it will take some time ... Now that my classes start again, I will not have much time to write :/

So – have a nice day/night, stay tuned ;)

… and please leave a review :-*


	3. Chapter 3

When the limo came to a halt, she couldn't help but whisper an overwhelmed "wow". So here did Godric live. Nice.

Embarrassed she looked down at herself, as she thought of the surely well-dressed guests, she would encounter at this 'welcome-party'. It was safe to say, that her outfit would be the cheapest ...

Eric hadn't allowed her much time to think about it, hence she had hurriedly chosen a self sewn, midnight-blue shirt dress. The buttons were matt black and matched the black, filigree flower patterns on the fabric. Around her neck hung a delicate, silver chain watch her grandmother had bestowed her. The light blue peacock on the a snow-white porcelain front was already fading, but nevertheless it was one of her most cherished jewelries. Now that she thought about it, it was probably not the best idea to wear a silver necklace at a vampire-party. She could only hope, that they wouldn't miss interpret her choice of trinket and think she didn't trust them ...

Sighing doubtfully, she raised her arm to open the car door, but before she could reach the handle, it was torn open and a hand waited for her to grab it. These vampires had exceptionally good manners ...

"Hurry up! We already wasted enough time!", the good looking, tall vampire noted displeased. With a smooth motion he helped her in a standing position and lead her to the front door of the intimidating mansion.

The entrance hall was huge and brightly lit, but what immediately catcher her eye, was a queue of vampires as well as humans who obviously waited for something.

"What do they line up for?", Laura whispered curiously and raised her expectant gaze to the blond vampires face.

"To tell Godric how glad they are, that he is safely back at home, I assume", he murmured with a bored tone, "I told you we would be late if you change." He shook his head and with a hand on her back, he urged her to take a place in the queue. "Besides, there is no need to whisper - the vampires can hear you anyway", he stated with an amused grin and her cheeks immediately started to feel unusually warm. How could she have forgotten about their supernatural abilities?!

"Where are you going?", she asked alarmed, as he turned to leave her. "I'm going to mingle with the crowd and look for someone to eat", Eric answered bluntly and winked at her, "You brought the long wait on yourself and I'm surely not going to hold your hand in the meantime!" With an leisure wave of his hand he excused himself and disappeared in the throng.

Laura sighed heavily and turned to look how many people exactly where waiting to see Godric. It were at least 15 persons, as far as she could see - what the hell should she do ad interim? She already felt enough out of place while being with Eric, but completely alone she was afraid they would expel her.

As if he had heard her self-conscious thoughts, the man in front of her turned around and smiled at her brightly. He had short, blond hair and friendly, hazel eyes with tiny wrinkles around them and because of his tan, she was sure he was human.

"What brings a beautiful, young Lady such as you're to a place like this?", he asked and made a sweeping gesture while curiously glaring at her.

"Well ... I'm buffing up an acquaintance, so to say", she admitted a little uneasy and proceeded a few strides as the next person stepped in front of Godric.

To be honest, she didn't really know, why she was here. If the gloomy vampire would have wanted to see her, he had come by weeks ago - he knew where she lived after all. She highly doubted that he would be pleased to see her, but Eric had been very persistent. Besides, he was a master in the art of persuasion and it was not of much help, that she was a person, who was giving in to almost every promotor who took the time to speak more than three minutes to her (therefore she was member of quite a few charity and nature protection organizations).

"Do you know Godric well?", she asked the grinning man curiously. Eric had not been very cooperative when it came to information about the young looking vampire. He didn't even tell her how he was related to him.

When he first showed up at her door a few days ago, he simply told her, that Godric was missing and that he wanted to know, if she had any information of his whereabouts. She didn't have a clue as to why - of all people! - he was asking _her_ and at first refused to invite him in and even had the guts to shut the door in his face.

Feelings of disappointment and sadness had flushed her at the mention of the handsome vampire and she couldn't think straight - at least that's what she told Eric later on, to justify her reaction, when she finally had given in and extended an invitation (after he had hammered on her poor door till she feared, he would knock it down - literally ...). But to be honest a certain degree of her rudeness was attributable to the fact, that the huge one wasn't particularly nice at first and had demanded her help with such unbelievable obviousness, that it repelled her.

And now she had suddenly met someone who possibly could quench her thirst of knowledge. She eagerly eyed the now quite irritated man in front of her, but her hopes were dashed as he simply asked: "Who?"

"Godric?! The vampire you are waiting to speak to?", she stated incredulously, while they stepped ahead once again. "Oh - well I just want to apologise! I kinda fought for the wrong side at first", he told her honestly and scratched the back of his head in an abashed manner.

"What do you mean with 'wrong side'?", she asked warily and narrowed her eyes at him. The grin in the blonde mans face faltered and he sighed heavily, before he started to tell her everything - from his womanizing and how it made him number one suspect in several murders in his hometown, to the point where he himself started to believe that he was indeed the killer and how a churchman had taken advantage of his state of weakness and lulled him in with words of appreciation and support. How he could have been persuaded to join the Fellowship Of The Sun was beyond her, but apparently he had been and ended up carpentering a scaffold for Godric's execution, before he came to his senses and finally knocked Steve Newlin out, by firing a paintball gun at him.

His - Jason's - story was hard to believe, but nevertheless it lightened Laura's mood - at least she had never been member of the Fellowship. Furthermore his babbling helped her killing the time while waiting and as he finally came to an end, there were only two people left in front of her.

And suddenly it struck her: what the hell was she going to say? Eric had insisted, that she had to meet the gentle vampire - but never had he told her what she should do then!

"I just want to say I'm real sorry for what the fellowship put you through", she heard Jason say and started to panic. She would be next!

"You helped save many lives today, Mr. Stackhouse. Please know you have friends in this area whenever you visit", the young looking vampire replied in a calm voice and her heart rate decreased lightly. Well, if he acted so nice toward a former Fellowship member, he wouldn't chase her out of his residence, would he?!

"Thanks man, but I don't know if I'll be wanting to come back any time soon", the blonde noted and turned to leave. This guy definitely needed some manners, she thought and watched as he moved to the side.

When her gaze finally settled on Godric, he eyed her disbelievingly, his brows furrowed and his mouth a thin line. Had she done something wrong?

"What are you doing here Laura?", he asked strait forward with a cold voice and her heart sank. Why had he been nice to the fellowship guy, but snapped at her? She felt like she got off at the wrong station, but as she became aware of her agape mouth and generally shocked expression, she forced herself to a bored look and gazed at the harsh vampire in front of her with tired eyes.

"Well, it's nice to meet you too, Godric!", she countered bitterly and clenched her hands to fists, "And I'm fine, thanks for asking!" Without further hesitation she turned on her heels and stormed off. She had humiliated herself enough for one night.

But her plan to leave was rendered void, for when she had nearly reached the front door, she was held back by a firm grip on her shoulder. "Where do you think you're going?", Eric demanded to know in an icy voice, "I didn't give you permission to leave!"

"I didn't know I would need a permission!", she spat out, really uneasy about the whole situation. She hadn't thought Godric would fall around her neck the moment he'd see her, but at least she had suspected him to stay polite. But he had been everything but. He just as well could have slapped her - it wouldn't have hurt more ...

The tall vampire eyed her a few seconds and his posture seemed to relax a bit. "Give him some time", he advised her in a knowing tone she didn't really appreciate, "Does he even know of your condition?"

"What are you speaking of?", she wanted to know, crossed her arms in front of the chest and narrowed her eyes, "Did you spy on me?!" Her voice was shrill at the last sentence and unfortunately she didn't even need an answer. This puny vampire certainly had been prying!

"It wasn't very difficult to get hold on your medical reports", he simply stated and shrugged his shoulders dismissively. She snorted, furious about this invasion of her privacy and stamped her right foot onto the ground in a childish manner. Just as she wanted to shout something into his face they heard two women's voices jelling at each other. Laura forgot Eric for a moment and turned to the event taking place in the entrance hall. A red-haired vampire just strangled a blonde, young woman, when suddenly Godric appeared and grappled the stronger of the two Ladies at her neck.

"Retract... your... fangs. Now.", she heard Godric spit out and a shudder ran through her at the sound of his ice cold voice, "I neither know nor care who you are. But in this area and certainly in this nest, I am the authority. Do you understand?" The redhead simply uttered a "Yes Sheriff". Laura was baffled at his air of superiority and gulped hard.

"This human has proven herself to be a courageous and loyal friend to our kind. And yet you treat her like a child does a dragonfly, pulling off wings for sport. No wonder they hate us", he told the whimpering vampire in his hand with disgust and pierced her with his glare.

"She provoked me", the underdog desperately tried to defend herself. She clearly feared the young looking vampire and it slowly dawned on Laura, that he may be far older, far more powerful and far, far more terrifying, than she first had thought.

"And you provoked me", he noted matter of factly, "You disrupted the peace in my own home. I could snap you like a twig. Yet I haven't. Now, why is that?"

"It's... your choice", the other vampire answered subdued and by the look on her face she already saw herself dead by the end of the next sentence.

"Indeed it is", he simply agreed, "You're an old vampire, I can tell. You've had hundreds of years to better yourself, yet you haven't. You are still a savage, and I fear for all of us, humans and vampires, if this behavior persists." Godric turned his gaze to the dark haired man beside the 'loyal friend' and at the thought of this particular statement Laura's stomach contracted. "You. You seem to know her. Escort her from the nest"

Relieved she exhaled the breath she hadn't been aware, she had been holding and registered only incidentally, as the vampire with the outdated sideburns escorted the redhead outside. Her focus still lay on the young looking vampire, who just had prevented major damage. He seemed out of place and even more withdrawn into himself, than she had witnessed till now.

Before she could comprehend what she was doing, she had crossed the hall and was standing beside him. "It was very kind of you to spare her life ..." She whispered carefully and faced him with a soft glance, completely forgetting her feelings about his rude reaction only moments ago. She just couldn't stand seeing this beautiful eyes drowning in such seemingly endless sorrow.

How could she have been so naive, as to think just for a single minute, that their encounter had changed anything. Even if Eric was sure about it - just looking into his face now, told her that he didn't see things any differently. As a matter of fact she even had the feeling, as if she had only made things worse ...

He rose his mournful eyes to look at her face for a few moments, but soon averted his gaze again and pinned it to the ground. "Rather stupid", he corrected in a bitter tone and let his blank look roam as if he was inspecting the patterns on the floor, "She will not change and stay a thread to thousands of humans in the future, if no one ends her life as I should have done."

She let his words sink in and thought about their first encounter - how he had been sure she would back down the moment he revealed his face. His own picture of his kind had surely been way more hideous than hers, but to be fair he undoubtedly had more experience with vampires. Maybe he was right after all? ...

No. Everyone had the ability to change, as well as everyone deserved a second chance. If the vampire Lady would make use of it, remained to be seen, but Godric had made the right choice!

"Well, we don't agree on that one then", she simply stated and smiled at him. With satisfaction she recognized, how he watched her from the corner of his eye, while she walked away. She didn't want him to feel urged to talk to her and their little conversation had already been awkward enough.

But she wouldn't drive home, not jet anyway. First she had to find out who this blonde beauty was, Godric had referred to as 'loyal friend'.

Scanning the throng in the entrance hall, she soon found the young woman - standing directly beside Eric. That was definitely not a good sign. She obviously knew the young looking vampire quite well, if she was acquainted to the huge one.

"Hey there – that was quite a show earlier", Laura addressed the woman in the summer dress, as she approached the two and continued in a slightly awed voice, "You really have guts to rise up against a vampire like that!"

The petit blonde hid her face behind her hands and shook her head in embarrassmement. "She drove me crazy. Normally I'm not that rude!", she clarified hastily and blushed.

The tall vampire had greeted Laura with a short nod and started to laugh, as the young woman beside him defended herself. "Well, I have to disagree there – I remember times where you could have been way nicer towards me", Eric interposed and bestowed the blonde with a seductive look.

Laura coughed uneasily at the turn this conversation was about to take. "Won't you introduce us, Eric?", she asked politely, but her raised eyebrow let him know, that it wasn't a suggestion.

"Where are my manners!", the hulk exclaimed with feigned dismay, "of course I'll introduce you: Laura meet Sookie an employee and soon-to-be lover of mine"

The blonde human hit his shoulder with an aimed slap and cursed him for implying that she would sink so low as to ever have a sexual relationship with him. Laura couldn't help but laugh at the scene and was relieved, that she presumably was not in some sort of romance with the young looking vampire. Eric hadn't told her much about his connection to him, but he obviously was kind of a father figure to the huge one, someone he looked up to. He wouldn't joke about being with his idols girlfriend, would he?

But why did she ponder over these things anyway?

After the tall vampire had calmed Sookie down with pacifying hand moves, he continued the introduction. "Sookie, meet Laura a special acquaintance of Godric!"

A warm feeling spread in herself at his choice of words and she smiled brightly at the tall vampire. But still a 'special acquaintance' was nowhere near a 'loyal friend' - even more so, as the latter was referred to as such by Godric himself.

"Nice to meet you!", she exclaimed to displace her thoughts and stretched a hand out to shake Sookies. The blonde woman grabbed it without hesitation and gave her an honest smile, which somehow reminded her of Jason. "How long do you two know each other?", she asked Laura curiously and pointed to the tall vampire beside her.

"Just a few days, to be honest", she replied and looked at Eric, "He was suddenly standing on my doorstep, demanding to know where Godric was - as if I - ..." She stopped talking as Sookies face got a shocked expression and examined the blonde. Had she said something wrong?

"Excuse me, everyone. If I could have your attention", they heard a young, dark haired man shout out, who was standing a few feet away from them, "My name is Luke McDonald. I'm a member of the Fellowship of the Sun. And I have a message for you all from Reverend Steve Newlin"

Before Laura could even comprehend, what she just had heard, she was carried off her feet and hit the floor. Not a second later, her left ear was overextended by a tremendous bang and she could feel a blast wave radiating. A few moments after the report, a screaming silence settled over the room and she slowly started to realize what just had happened.

This Luke guy had been a suicide bomber and had blown himself and presumably many of the guests to pieces. And that thought lead her to the next: why was she still able to reflect about the events – she had been standing way too near to this guy, to be still alive!

"Have you been harmed, little one?", she heard an suspiciously familiar voice asking her. Because her left ear was deaf, she had sensed his concerned tone only with her right, but still she could tell, that he had to be above her.

She hesitantly opened her eyes and blinked a few times to habituate them to the dust which now filled the air around them. Her body felt stiff and she had a feeling, as if something was surrounding her. Only when she started to lift her head, she realized that Godric must have thrown himself in front of her, to protect her from the detonation.

The young looking vampires pale face was just a few inches above her, his body hovered over hers and his piercing eyes examined her with such worry, that she breathed in sharply, overwhelmed by his caring demeanor. How could he think so bad of vampires, if he himself was such a kind and compassionate person?

When she tried to move her hand to her dazed head, she also recognized, that he had been supporting it the whole time, so she wouldn't get hurt while being knocked to the ground. His other hand lay loosely over her right ear - obviously he had tried to protect her aural sense too.

"I don't think so", she replied stunned and glared at him in embarrassement. The close proximity rattled her and the fact that he certainly could hear her increasing heart beat made it only worse.

"If you hadn't been - ...", she tried to express her gratitude, but was silenced as the hand, that had been laying over her ear wanderd to her lips to hush her. The cool touch of his finger on her sensitive skin felt soothing and she closed her eyes for a moment to calm down a bit.

"It was the least I could have done", he stated in a voice that made perfectly clear, that he wouldn't discuss that topic any further. She eyed him worriedly and wasn't surprised, to spot a bitter expression on his face. He was blaming himself for the course of events. How could he be so ignorant and blind?

Carefully he withdrew his hand from it's location under her head and started to straighten himself in a standing position. His movements looked unusually rigid and only after he had helped her to get up, she recognized a few bloodstains around his shoulders on the shirt he wore. She withdrew her hand from his and lifted it to the red colored fabric.

Totally shocked about the sight in front of her, she clapped a hand over her mouth, as she had slowly walked around him to examine his back. Several sharp metal pieces - supposedly silver - stuck in his flesh and created deep, bleeding wounds.

Despite her attempts to conceal her emotions, she couldn't prevent the silent tears from flowing steadily down her cheeks while she surveyed the damage. "That might hurt", she warned him, before she firmly gripped the first piece and carefully removed it from his back.

She repeated the process until the last one of those brutal slices was extracted. Somewhere in between she had lost controll over herself and had started sobbing uncontrollably and while she had to whipe her eyes occasionally, to keep a clear sight, he hadn't been moving at all and endured the treatment in silence.

When she was done, she lifted her hand once more to carefully stroke over his back in one smooth movement, making sure she caressed every part of his body, that had been harmed because of her. Certainly the wounds had already closed, but nevertheless he had been in pain because of her and that fact hurt her more than she could express in words.

"Promise me, that you won't do something foolish like that ever again!", she uttered with a cracking voice. She had stopped weeping some time ago - not because she had composed herself, but because she simply didn't have any tears left.

"I am afraid, I can not do that", he replied sincere, and slowly turned to face her, "I would not want to lie to you." His eyes roamed about her undoubtedly shabby appearance and stopped at her face, carefully examining her facial expression.

She was exhausted, the dried tears stuck on her cheeks and left a tense feeling. Her eyes must have looked awkward - bloodshot and with coherent lashes. The carefully braided plait of hair that had been dangling over her left shoulder, certainly was a mess by now and her formerly neat dress was now stained with dust.

"I expected you'd say something like that", she admitted with a heavy sigh and gave him a forced smile. Her defeated gaze ran over his composture, as his had been only moments ago.

His short hair stood messily off his head, but it gave his appearance a casual touch. While his body seemed tense, his eyes held a warm glimpse that had a calm effect on her. "I owe you my life", she tried to thank him, but altered her course when his eyebrows started to forrow for the tiniest amount.

"And a shirt - that certainly was an expensive one, wasn't it?"

* * *

><p>Actually she had planned to drive home, when everyone started to set forth for hotel Carmilla, where the guests would spend the rest of the night and sleep for the day. But Eric had persisted to offer her a hotel suit too and who was she to neglect such a generous proposition?<p>

As she had entered the room Eric provided her, she politely had wished him a good day-rest and hadn't even taken the time to examine the lavishly furnished suit, but literally fell into the bed and immediately dropped off.

When Laura awoke the next day, a look out of one of the windows told her, that night had already settled. Blearily she rubbed her eyes and trotted to the bath to take a shower.

The room was tiled in dark colors and therefore seemed smaller, than it really was. Soft looking towels hung on hooks on one of the walls and almost screamed for her to snuggle down in them.

Carefully she stripped the blue dress off, she was still wearing and removed her necklace. A short look into the mirror showed her, that Godric had done his job quite well - she didn't have the slightest scratch. In fact, even her hearing was back to normal.

The hot shower relaxed her still tense muscles and she sighed in delight. The hotel provided a shower gel and shampoo she gratefully used and only when her fingers started to wrinkle up, she stepped out to dry her body with one of those lovely towels.

Wrapped into it and with her wet hair hanging over her shoulders, she left the bathroom to look for her phone, but when she spotted someone sitting on the bed, she couldn't help but scream out loud and run for cover in the bathroom. But before she reached the door, a hand had firmly closed her mouth and an amused voice whispered in her ear.

"You're quite a slugabed - but the sight was worth the waiting"

His hand loosened its grip and she slowly started to relax. It was only Eric - how could she not have recognized him?

"If you promise to stay calm, I'll remove my hand", he offered and after a curt nod, he let go of her. She deeply sucked in some air because she had had some difficulties with his monstrous hand so close to her nose.

"What are you doing here?", she asked bluntly and crossed the arms over her chest, "Just because you pay for this room, doesn't give you the right to burst in whenever you feel like it!"

"Is that so?", he asked with feigned surprise. "Actually I just wanted to hand you some clean clothes, but if you have no need -" "No, no - I'll gladly take them", she cut in and patted his chest in a childish manner.

A lopsided grin spread on his face and he lifted one of his hands to point at the bed she had slept in and which miraculously was made, as if she had never laid in it. On top sat a pile of neatly folded clothes.

Upon closer examination she spotted a ruby red, three-quarter sleeved dress with a generous cleavage, which undoubtedly would cling to her body like a second skin, colorless tights with one single black line as highlight and black lingerie which definitely had cost a fortune.

"The shoes should match", he stated in a slightly bored voice and pointed to the floor beneath the bedside table, "I wasn't sure if you are able to walk with high heels, so I got you some with moderate ones"

"These things must have cost more than my whole wardrobe ...", she uttered in disbelief and looked at him with big eyes. "You're welcome!", he just cut her off and shrugged his shoulders,"Just make sure you change fast - I want to see how they look on you before the meeting starts!"

"Which meeting?", she asked curiously, gathered the clothes and started to the bathroom.

"Nan Flanagan has announced herself and will be giving us a harangue in about -", he started to tell her and looked at the watch he wore on his wrist, "17 minutes - so hurry up human!"

"I don't know why, but this term sounds insulting out of your mouth ...", she grumbled through the bathroom door and could hear Eric laugh on the other side.

Before she started to dress she tended to her hair, so her knew clothes wouldn't get wet. She carefully combed the honey colored strands and blow-dried them in no particular way. Her natural waves where something she had come to terms with, therefore she didn't even attempt to straighten them anymore - it was a waste of time.

After that, she let the towel she was wrapped into sink to the floor and put on the beautiful lingerie of black lace Eric had given her, not the least surprised, that everything fit like a glove. She had already suspected, that the tall vampire had snooped around in her wardrobe on one of the rare occasions, where she had let him alone in her room for a minute or two - now she was sure about it!

She carefully pulled the tights up her legs and was pleasantly surprised at how lovely these single stipes on the backside made them look longer, than they really where. When she put on the dress, she first had problems to fit in, but after a few rearrangements here and there she was at least mostly content. It could have been a bit less revealing but she was glad, that Eric had thought about some new clothes for her at all. Though she would've called him anyway, if he hadn't been so considerate...

A few moments later she stepped a bit self-conscious out of the bathroom and waited for his judgement. Without a single word he stood up from the couch and crossed the room to stand in front of her. A queasy feeling spread in her while she was examined by his schooled eyes. But while she thought he would point out that there was need for improvement, he just reached to his pocket to pull a little velvet coated box out.

"Don't tell me you bought me some earrings too?!", she blurted out and looked at him in disbelief. A smirke spread on his face, as he told her that the maching necklace was situated on the bedside table and pointed in the mentioned direction. And really - a similar box, just a little bigger, was sitting there unspectacularly and waited for her to open it.

The material of the jewelry looked like silver, but as she considered, that a vampire would very unlikely buy a silver necklace, she concluded, that it had to be white gold. "It is made of white gold and rubies - as are the earrings", he told her from behind and she could nearly _hear_ him grinning as he continued, "You should keep in mind, that vampires have a special proclivity for the colour red"

With the box in her hands she carefully turned to face the huge vampire. "May I?", he asked politely and pointed to the trinket. Of course she nodded lightly, so he lifted it out delicately, opened it and laid it around her neck. Without seeing the clasp, he closed it with schooled hands and took a step away from her, to look at the whole picture.

"Though I was quite busy myself", he started to tell her in a serious tone and let his eyes roam about her body, till they stopped at her face, "I have seen what was going on with Godric and you after the explosion ..." Shocked, she clasped a hand to her mouth and stammered: "I'm so sorry Eric - he just knocked me down, I didn't even realize it first! And his back! He had been hurt so horribly - I'm so sorry - I -"

A firm, cool finger on her lips stopped her mid-sentence. Apparently it was common for vampires, to silence their interlocutor like that...

"I wanted to thank you", he said quietly and the serious expression on his face made her gulp, "You must have done something right - otherwise he wouldn't have protected you. And the way you acted after you realized his injuries, how you carefully removed every metal piece, was - ... I have no words ... I'm not good at this!"

He shook his head, slightly annoyed, while Laura stared at him with big eyes. She had thought he would be angry or at least disappointed of her, but that was unexpected ...

"Just know, that I'm forever grateful for whatever you've done!", he tried it once again, with his fingers in a frustrated manner on the bridge of his nose, "Maybe we will even have more time to get to know each other, than I first thought ..."

Her expression turned to a confused one. "I thought you said you'd leave tomorrow?" "I am", he confirmed and took a look at his watch again, "I have to go now - I'm going to send someone for you as soon as we've finished."

Even more confused, she watched him stride to the door and open it. "And don't forget the earrings!", he reminded her as he glanced back to her a last time, before he left her alone.

And what should she do in the meantime? It could take hours!

Frustrated, she let herself fall onto the couch and turned the TV on. She zapped through the channels, till she came to an action movie. Her life was boring enough - except for the vampire related part - therefore she had a preference for such films.

Bored, she took her cellphone to look, if she had missed any calls and certainly there where three of her gran, and two of her best friend Patrick. But a look to the clock told her, that it was already too late to call them back, she'd catch up on that in the morning.

They both called her every day to make sure she was fine - well, as fine as she could be. Their over protectiveness was a bit annoying, but still she loved how they cared for her.

She rose from the couch to look for the medicine in her handbag. It wasn't as if it would change anything, but she felt better, when she took the pills occasionally. After she had put two into her mouth, she gulped them down with a bit of water and took the little velvet box with her, before she sat down on the couch again, where she put the beautiful earrings on.

She called the room service after an hour or so, as her stomach started to grumble and ordered some food. When it was brought up to her suit a few minutes later, it smelled so delicious, that she wasn't able to hold back and scarfed everything in less than ten minutes. Her overfilled stomach hurt a while, but it soon grew quiet again, so she was able to enjoy the rest of movie.

It was close before dawn and Laura hadn't expected it anymore, when someone hastily hammered on her door. "Laura? Are you there?", she heard a familiar voice cry from the other side of the door, when she had nearly reached the handle.

"What's all the fuss about?", she asked baffled and looked at Sookie in confusion, as she had opened the door. "Hurry! I'm afraid he'll do something reckless!", the blonde woman told her, grabbed her at the sholder and pulled her along with her. She didn't even let her put on her shoes!

"They are on the roof and the look Eric gave me -", the southern belle tried to explain, but obviously was at a loss of words. What the hell was going on?

But when they reached the top of the building, Laura realized, why Sookie hadn't wasted time: Eric was kneeling on the ground and he was crying bloody tears, while Godric was standing in front of him and glaring down at him with a hurt expression on his face.

They looked like yin and yang. Eric was totally clothed in black, while Godic wore white linen. But something seemed to be extraordinary wrong!

"Fader. Broder. Son. Let me go", the younger looking vampire requested and put a hand on the crouching ones shoulder.

What the hell was he talking about? Where would he go now - the sun was about to rise!

"I won't let you die alone", the blonde vampire exclaimed and the conviction in his voice let her shudder. And now it slowly dawned on her: they where on a roof and the sun would set any moment - Godric wanted to burn!

"Yes, you will. As your Maker I command you", the standing vampire told him in a firm voice and she watched in amazement as Eric slowly rose and strode in their direction. The defeated expression on his face felt like a stap to her heart and she reassuringly squeezed his hand before he disappeared down the stairs.

Sookie was still standing beside her and neither of them knew what they should do.

"It won't take long, not at my age", Godric simply stated and turned east, to face the soon rising sun. With schooled hands he opened the buttons of his shirt and pulled it down his shoulders until it fell to the floor.

It was the first time, she realized, that he had tattoos and though she normally would have been curious, an unforeseen anger started to boil in her. Before she knew what she did, she was standing in front him and stared furiously at him.

"Do you even know, what other people would give for a few more weeks?", she shouted at him and her angry stare became a bitter one, "And you want to throw your life away as if it was trash!"

His eyes looked tired and his whole apperiance gave the impression, that he was totally content about the fact, that he would burst into flames in a few minutes. "I am old, Laura", he told her calmly and caressed one of her cheeks with the back of his fingers, "I neither have a reason, nor do I have the right to live!"

She looked at him in disbelief. Did he really just say that? The feeling if his cool touches, had a soothing effect on her, but that last sentence of his was too much.

"If Eric's reaction just moments ago isn't reason enough for you to live, then you're not the person I thought you were!"

His face got a slightly pained expression as he replied: "You do not know me - I am far worse, than you can even begin to imagine!"

A bitter laugh escaped her mouth before she harshly shook his hand off. His mindset slowly started to annoy her. With the hand he had caressed her cheek with, only seconds ago, hanging loosely from his shoulders, he averted his gaze and looked in the gradually reddening sky.

"I really hoped you would show up, you know", she tried to approach him differently and turned to the slowly rising sun as well. Her voice had been so low, that he wouldn't have been able to understand her, if he hadn't been a vampire.

"I know. I have been there", he told her sincerely, obviously immediately understanding, that she had been talking about the days after their first encounter. She sighed heavily and turned her head in his direction, to look at him once more.

"I don't want you to die", she whispered, more to herself, than to him, "If I'd believe in a life after death I'd just say 'see you soon' - but that's not the case. We simply stop to exist. End. You really want that? You really want to leave everything behind?"

His lips had slightly twitched upwards, but his eyes were still fixed on the horizon. "I did everything, there is to do. I saw everything there is to see - I am done, little one", he stated calmly, "Do not waste your precious time trying to convince me of the contrary."

Well that was a straw she could grasp at. "You did everything there is to do?", she asked him with a challenging tone in her voice, "Have you ever sailed through the Venice canals with one of these gondoliers? Have you ever been flying in a hot-air ballon? Have you ever been standing in front of a crowd and sung? - Now be honest Godric, have you really done everything there is to do?"

He had turned his head to face her somewhere between 'Venice' and 'flying' and mustered her, seemingly amused. This had to be a good sign - she hadn't much time left!

"I have indeed been to Venice and therefore sailed through the canals", his low voice rang in her ears as if he'd shouted in her face, "And I can fly by myself - I have no need for a vehicle. But I admit - I have never sung in front of a crowd."

Encouraged, she shot out further points of her list: "Have you ever stood on the Chinese wall? Have you ever taken the time to look at the stars until you saw a shooting star? ... Have you ever been skinny-dipping? - Certainly with someone else! It doesn't count if you were alone!"

He laughed about the last one, but nodded 'yes' each time she had ended her sentence. It displeased her, that she wasn't able to find anything more, he hadn't done yet. But what worried her, was the fact, that smoke started to rise from his body. With a horrified look on her face, she turned her head to watch the horizon and was shocked when she saw the first sunrays.

"Have you ever helped someone else accomplish their last wishes?", she desperately tried a last time, while the first tear ran down her cheek, "I'm going to die soon, and I'm nowhere near finished! At least help me with my list - you can still burn later on!"

His eyebrows furrowed slowly and his beautiful eyes bored themselves into hers and gave her an uneasy feeling. "You will have to explain a few things!", he simply stated and was gone in the next second.

She broke down onto her knees, not able to maintain her tense posture any more. She had done it. He had been rushing inside and was safe now.

Tears of joy blazed their trails over her cheeks, as she sat there in silence and watched the sun rise. She recognized that Sookie had been sitting down beside her and gave her a warm smile, which certainly had to look odd in her actual condition.

"I think we should head inside", the blonde told her and stroked her shoulder carefully, "I think he's waiting for you and it's not good for them to stay awake during daytime."

Laura nodded tiredly and let Sookie help her to her feet. "Is it true?", the young women asked her, trying not to sound too curious. A weak smile formed on her mouth and she nodded once again. She felt the blonde squeeze her hand reassuringly, while they slowly strode to the stares and left the roof.

* * *

><p><strong>AN**: so this was the new chapter - I hope you liked it, it was definitely easier to write than the last one ;)

Thanks so much for the reviews again - I really appreciate your opinions, therefore I'm glad if you tell me what you('d) like/d or disliked ;)

The next chapter will unfortunately have to wait for a while, because I have lots of work to do (I was just lucky that I could finish this chapter, before my courses really started)

So, keep on reading - and please, leave a review ;)


	4. Chapter 4

Laura was glad that Sookie supported her, because she couldn't completely rely on her knees. They felt shaky and weak and she was sure, she would have stumbled down the stares, if the blonde hadn't been there to help her.

It also took her eyes some time to adjust to the darker environment, after they had closed the door which lead to the roof and the fact that one of her hands was occupied by Godric's white shirt, didn't really help as well. She had already managed to descend half the stairway, until she finally recognized, that Sookie indeed had been right: the young looking vampire stood at the bottom of the stairs and obviously waited for her.

His expression was as indifferent as ever, but he seemed paler than usual (which also could be due to the neon lights in here) and his eyes where bloodshot. The white shirt he had worn on the roof felt heavy in her hand now, but she hadn't any intention to return it any time soon - it would just be stained with blood if he put it back on ... And his naked torso was a vision to behold, to say the least, so she wanted to prolong the opportunity to examine his tattoos more intently, as long as she could.

Automatically she started to fumble around with her hair, to make sure that it looked at least half-decent. Subsequently her light hands swiped over her cheeks as well, to get rid of the last remaining tears, while she stumbled down the few steps that were left hurriedly.

"No offense Godric, but you look as shitty as I feel ...", she joked to enlighten his mood, when she came to a halt in front of him and gestured to his nose, where a small trail of blood dropped from.

"Laura!", she heard Sookie exclaim behind her with an indignant voice and watched, as the blonde put her hands on her hips like her mum used to, when she was a kid and took the last steps. That had obviously not been the right way to talk to a sheriff, huh?

But as she turned her gaze in Godric's direction again, she just saw him getting rid of the blood with a simple swipe of his index finger. He didn't seem to hold her harsh words against her, but honestly: his face was hard to read, she had better chances to decipher hieroglyphs ...

"Would you please be so kind, as to tell me what you meant earlier?", he ripped her out of her thoughts with his low voice and glared at her inquisitively. A tired sigh escaped her mouth as she proceeded to the elevator and pressed the button to call it. The other two had followed her silently, but a look in their faces told her, that they both seemed to wait for her answer.

"Can't we speak about that tomorrow? I'm too tired to think straight and we still need to tell Eric, that you didn't ... Well, that you still exist", she told them with a gentle voice and hopped in the elevator as the doors opened.

"He already knows. He would have sensed my death", the young looking vampire stated matter of factly, as if he would speak about his plans for the evening or something comparably ordinary. Had this ability to 'sense' him, to do with the fact that he was Eric's maker - whatever that meant?

As soon as everyone was in, Godric pressed the button to Eric's and Laura's floor and turned to examine her quietly.

It felt odd to be eyed like that, but she could understand why he did it and endured it without a word. He certainly searched for any sign of disease he could detect, any anomaly, anything that could give him a hint of her illness - if she had told him the truth.

As a 'bing' disclosed, that they had arrived and the doors went open, all three stepped out in the corridor and the two humans stopped to orient themselves. As he realized, that he hadn't been followed, Godric came to a halt too and turned to look at the women questioningly.

"Well, I'm returning to my room now", Sookie explained hesitantly and shifted her weight from one foot to the other in an uneasy manner, "Bill's surely waiting for me and I don't want him to get the bleeds ..." After a curt nod from Godric, she bid goodbye and disappeared in one of the rooms. Laura hadn't known, that they all were situated on the same floor, but as she knew Eric at least a bit, it made sense that he would have liked to have an eye on everyone ...

"Which room exactly is Eric's?", Laura's questioning voice resonated in the hallway. As she just received an 'I-already-told-you-that's-not-necessary'-look from the now quite irritated vampire before her, she sighed tiredly. "I get that he already knows, but I think he deserves to see you - I bet he can't sleep if he isn't 1000% sure that you're still alive!"

Godric stared blankly at her for a moment, but nodded finally. It seemed, as if he slowly started to realize how far-reaching the impact of his act just half an hour ago was - especially for the ones close to him.

And Eric was without a doubt one of his closest friends - and if she had understood him right, Godric had even called him his father, brother - his son. Their relationship had to be something very special - and it definitely had suffered a hard stab as the gloomy vampire had insisted to meet the sun.

It was beyond her, how he had managed to dismiss the huge one without batting an eye, but at least he seemed to understand now, that the situation called for an apology, because he had stopped to knock on one of the doors - the one opposite of her suit to be precise.

It took the person on the other side not even a second to rip it open and as she had figured, Eric was standing before her. His cheeks were clean, she couldn't detect the tiniest bloodstain so he had obviously used the time to wash his face. But he still looked unhealthy...

He glared at his maker in disbelief and hesitantly went to the side after a few moments of silence. His gaze was pinned to the smaller vampire stepping into the room and Laura wasn't sure if he had realized that she was there at all. But when she stayed in her spot, unsure if she should follow or not, he reluctantly averted his gaze from its former target, until it stopped at her face.

Insecure she looked down at her feet for a moment and that was about the time she realized, that she had ruined the beautiful tights Eric had bought her. Obviously the concrete floor on the roof had been too rough for the filigree material ...

"I'm so sorry for ruining them Eric!", she started babbling and pointed at her toes, which looked through a hole in the fabric, "I haven't thought I'd need to hurry - I didn't have time to-"

But her next words got stuck in her throat as the huge one embraced her in a tight hug. He _hugged_ her. The tough, narcissistic, unapproachable vampire showed _affection_ - for a _human_!

"Thank you ...", he whispered so quietly that she would have had problems to understand him, if he hadn't breathed it directly into her ear.

But as fast and surprising as he had embraced her, he also parted from her. "Well, hurry up Tiny, we're just waiting for you!", he told her in a cocky tone and maneuvered her into the room, with soft pressure of his hand on the small of her back. "You know, I don't like that title - huge one!", she grumbled, but had a smirk on her face nonetheless. She was glad, that he was back to normal - she didn't really know how to deal with the serious Eric ...

Godric was sitting on the couch and apparently had observed the scene before him, because Laura could swear, she had detected the faintest smile on his face, as she and Eric approached to sit down beside him.

"Shouldn't you two rest?", she asked hesitantly after a few moments of silence, "I mean - I wanted Eric to know that you're still alive. He knows now, so you can sleep for the day - blood running from your nose and ears doesn't look good on either of you ..."

She darted a concerned glance at the two vampires beside her. Both had swiped the blood away, after she had mentioned it, but they still looked like they had just got out of their own grave. Well, that wasn't too extraordinary for a vampire, she supposed ...

"There is still a matter to discuss ..." Godric stated in a demanding tone and glared at her from the corner of his eye. The expression on his face gave away, that she wouldn't stand a chance to escape his questions this time. "You spoke the truth?", he asked bluntly and in a slightly harsh tone, as she hadn't said anything for a few moments.

"What is it about?", Eric interposed with furrowed eyebrows and let his eyed sway back and forth between the two beside him. She could see how the muscles of Godric's naked torso slightly tensed, while he closed his eyes and exhaled.

He obviously had to restrain himself, but why? Was he mad, because he thought she had lied in his face? As if she could do that - she was a horrible liar ...

"Laura spoke of her impending death on the roof and is not very forthcoming about it since we we are inside again", he told Eric through gritted teeth, as his fingers dug into the fabric of his trousers. He was angry, that much was clear ...

"She told you the truth", the tall vampire stated simply and stood up, "I'm going to sleep for the day - and you two?"

The blonde hulk stared questioningly at the two sitting persons before him and crossed the hands over his chest, as he wasn't getting an answer right away. Laura was grateful, that he had only told the young looking vampire, what he really had to know. It was her story to tell after all and now was not the right time for such things. They all needed to rest. And she still owed Patrick and her gran phone calls ...

She coughed uneasily and slowly turned her head to look what Godric's reaction would be. But he just sat there and stared at the floor beneath his bare feet.

"Please forgive me my distrust", he requested in a hushed voice and slowly turned his head to look at her with these remorseful eyes, she had seen way too often.

Her arm rose self-acting to press against her chest, in an attempt to ease the pain his expression caused her. Without thinking she grabbed his hand and squeezed it lightly. "There is no need to forgive anything - but please stop looking at me like that ..."

He stared at her for a while, as his expression changed to a disbelieving one and she wasn't able to avert her gaze until his thumb started to gently sweep over the back of her hand in featherlight circles. Her eyes darted to their still entwined fingers and stuck to his repetitive movement.

"What about sleeping?", Eric's teasing voice ripped her out of her daydreams and she couldn't prevent blushing, as the handsome vampire beside her reluctantly let go of her hand.

"I'll stay with Godric", she declared and leaned back in the couch, observing the person in question out of the corner of her eye, "I don't really trust him not to do anything stupid jet ..."

A dry laugh escaped Erics mouth and with his hands still crossed over his chest, he furrowed his eyebrows and looked questioning at her. "And what would you do, if he really wanted to do 'something stupid'?", he asked genuinely interested.

Laura let her head rest against the cushioned backrest of the couch and closed her eyes to think for a moment. She could not only feel Eric's glare on her, but Godric's as well. Feeling a bit uncomfortable being eyed like that, she soon sat up straight again to stare challenging in the ice blue eyes of the blond vampire. "I still have a silver necklace in my room", she told him matter of factly, "And if I have to, I'll chain him to the bed with it!"

A smirk spread on Eric's face and his posture lost a bit of its tension. "I bet he'd like that ...", he stated with a wolffish grin and eyed his maker. "Eric!", the smaller vampire exclaimed with a rebuking voice and shot the blonde one a dark glare. He got to his feet with one swift motion and came to stand beside the huge one.

Thankfully Godric felt as uneasy with that matter, as Laura and had nipped the topic in the bud, otherwise it would certainly have become embarrassing for her. Why the hell had she mentioned a bed? Why not the armature in the bathroom, or something like that?

Well - at further consideration that one could have become embarrassing as well ...

"I appreciate your concern, but I believe you have to rest as well", the smaller of two vampires addressed her with a concerned expression on his face and swiped a blood trail away that had only just started to drop. And truth to be told: she _was_ tired. But she wouldn't be able to sleep, with her thoughts endlessly circling around him, possibly committing suicide.

"Let that be my problem", she requested and stood up as well, but immediately let herself fall back, as the room began to spin around her. These equilibrium problems really sucked ...

She closed her eyes and tried to relax, but looked up again, when she felt someone sitting down beside her.

"Is this caused by your disease?", the handsome vampire beside her asked warily and slightly furrowed his eyebrows. His concerned grey-green eyes examined her intently and once again reminded her of fern leafs on a sunlit clearing in an otherwise dark and heavily vegetated forest.

"Yeah ... But that's not the really bad part", she told him honestly and her eyes roamed about his even face, before she averted her gaze, "It's the epileptic seizures - every time I get one, I can only hope to get a hold of the injection in time. Otherwise it's possible, that I severely hurt myself - or that I even choke. They are caused by my brain tumor - now I told you and we can let this topic slip, can we?"

The face of the young looking vampire became expressionless and he stared at her blankly. "And where is this injection you talked about right now?", he asked with an equally indifferent voice.

"Huh - I hadn't had the time to grab my purse, so it's still in my room", she answered meekly and ducked her head as if she would expect him to shout at her. But all she heard was a sighed "I thought as much", before she was lifted up by two strong arms and found herself in front of her suit within the blink of an eye. The hallway still spun around her, but she was able to detect her room number nonetheless.

"Your key?", he asked politely and looked expectantly down at her. That was about the time she became aware of her hands, which clung around his neck as if her life depended on it. She had no clue, when they had decided to move there - they obviously had a mind on their own ... And he still wasn't wearing his shirt ...

The dark blue pattern of his collar tattoo was just inches away from her face and in the center of her field of view. She had to put all her willpower in restraining herself from stroking over his smooth looking skin ...

"It's inside as well, but I bet Eric has a card too", she mumbled absentmindedly and as expected, the huge one was standing beside them within the next second and swiped said card through the slot on the door. With a click the lock unclosed, the tall vampire opened the door and stepped to the side, to let his maker step inside, with Laura still in his arms.

A few quick strides later, Godric carefully sat her down on the couch and grabbed the purse she had mentioned, to look for the syringe.

"I suppose this is this important injection you talked about?", he asked as he fished a plastic-wrapped shot out of her bag and held it up representatively. She shortly looked at it and nodded once before she closed her eyes and relaxed back against the couch for a moment.

"You really should rest, young one", she heard the gloomy vampires calm voice say, "At least for a few hours."

A small smile spread on her face as she realized, that he seemed to be genuinely concerned about her well being. "I'll sleep as soon as I'm sure you're dead for the day", she stated stubbornly with her eyes still closed. She heard him sigh and move around until she felt the touch of his hand on her knee. Her eyes shot up wide and stared shocked at his crouching posture before her, because she hadn't expected it.

Immediately he withdraw his hand again, while a pained expression quickly crossed his face, before he put on his indifferent mask again and stood up.

"Eric wishes to rest with me", he stated curtly and turned to leave the room, "Have a good day."

Perplexed she blinked a few times and watched as Eric shot her a short, disappointed glare before he followed the young looking vampire. "How do you know that?", she blurted out, without thinking, "You didn't talk to him at all!"

The blond vampire nearly crashed into Godric, as he stopped in his tracks and glared at her over his shoulder, with his hand resting on the doorframe. "I can feel it", he declared matter of factly, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. But as he discovered her confused expression, he sighed and turned on his heels to face her properly.

"It is a distinctive feeling I get from him", he explained patiently, "I know it well from his first few years as a vampire. He always felt it, whenever he knew he had disappointed me and wasn't sure if I would spend my day rest beside him, or not. As a young one, you always feel the need to be with your maker, especially when you are as vulnerable, as we are during our day rest. Therefore I know, that he seeks to sleep beside me today - it's the same blend of longing for something and uncertainty I get from him, as it has been over 1000 years ago ..."

The gaze of the young looking vampire slowly broke away from her face and turned to Eric's. A barely detectable smile flashed over Godric's face as he took in the tall vampires appearance. His blonde hair was slicked back as always and his eyebrows where slightly furrowed.

"Are you finished with accurately explaining my feelings?", the huge one asked in a dry tone and gave his maker a taunting look. He looked like a offended little boy, not like a over 1000 year old vampire. And then it hit her.

If Eric was that incredibly old, how old was his maker then? How long had Godric wandered about this Earth? How many historically important and unimportant persons had he met during his long life? How many wars had he have to see or be part of?

The small vampires smile only became a bit wider and he raised his hand to carefully swipe a blood trail away, that had been dropping from the hulks nose for a while now.

"You cut your hair", the young looking one noted and examined Eric intently. "There was a bloody accident and Pam had to cut it shorter than intended ...", the tall one explained nearly sounding a bit apologetic. The way the two interacted with each other let a warm feeling spread inside Laura's chest and she had even more problems to understand Godric's wish to meet the sun.

"I didn't change my mind about keeping an eye on you", she stated as the situation turned back to normal and the vampires had turned to leave, "I'm coming with you"

She hurriedly grabbed the purse Godric had laid back down on the couch and got up. Her head was still a bit dizzy, but she would be able to walk without further problems.

The vampires had halted in the doorframe again and watched as she closed the gap between them and eyed them expectantly. "We'll hurry up huge one - you're already bleeding again", she exclaimed and gave said vampire an impatient clap on his shoulder, "You two should really adopt the horizontal ..."

She just earned a risen eyebrow from Eric and he shook his head as he proceeded to his room again. Godric followed shortly after him but glanced a few times unobtrusively over his shoulder, to be aware if Laura would need his help.

As she had entered Eric's suite again, she closed the door carefully behind her, but when she turned around again, she found herself alone. Hesitantly she stepped towards the room she figured would be the bedroom and recognized that the door was still ajar. Taking that as an invitation she grabbed the handle, opened it and stepped inside.

Godric already lay in the middle of bed with his naked torso leaned in an 45 degree angle against the cushions, his head resting on the headboard and thankfully he was still wearing his trousers. He eyed her intently while Eric sat on the bedside and got rid of his shoes. The tall one neither stripped, nor changed to a more comfortable wardrobe - which she was also very grateful for.

Though the smaller vampire was the most handsome being she had ever laid her eyes on, the taller one wasn't ugly either and she surely would have felt uncomfortable, if he had shown more skin than needed. It was difficult enough to have Godric's bare chest constantly staring in her face - she didn't need Eric's too ...

The tall one swiped the blood trails under his nose and ears away one last time and lay down beside his maker, leaning on his arms and glaring at the young looking vampire questioningly. He was still watching Laura, who slowly started to feel like an intruder, but apparently he had recognized Erics glare and nodded once. The blonde vampire let his head sink to Godric's chest and embraced him with one of his long arms. A peaceful expression crossed his face, as his maker started to run his fingers through his blonde hair and he closed his eyes.

Laura shifted uneasily from one foot to the other and wasn't quite sure what to do. There was no chair in this room, she just had the option to sit on the bed, or the floor...

"I have no intention to bite you, young one", she heard Godric note with a smooth voice, but a hint of amusement, "You may at least sit beside me while you mount guard over me"

He had already closed his eyes, but the continuous movement of his hand showed, that he was still quite awake, contrary to the vampire resting on his chest. Eric seemed indeed to sleep already.

Hesitantly she stepped to the bed and sat down on the bedside with her back to the two vampires. "You want to see Venice and the Chinese wall", his soothing voice resonated in the room once again, "What else is on your list?"

"Actually these two aren't really on my list", she sighed and looked at her feet absentmindedly, "I wanted it to be achievable and I wouldn't be able to afford as many journeys as I'd wish to make. It would be quite depressing lying on my deathbed with a nowhere completed list in my hand - just telling me once more how fucking short my time had been ..."

Silence settled in the room. She still could hear Godric's fingers running through Eric's hair, so she was sure, he was still awake. When she hesitantly turned her head to look over her shoulder, her eyes widened a bit as she recognized, that he apparently had been watching her the whole time.

"You should consider to extend your list", he stated, still glaring at her from the corner of his eye, "I have more money than I am able to spend - feel free to use it."

"I can't accept that!", she stuttered with wide eyes, "That would be way too much!" She had turned to watch him fully, with one of her legs resting bent on the bed.

"If I remember correctly, you asked me for help", he reminded her and rose his head to turn it in her direction, "How shall I help you, if not with my money?"

Her jaw dropped in disbelief and she blinked a few times, as if she thought it would change the situation if she closed her eyes and opened them again. But he still looked questioning at her face, requiring an answer.

"You really think I meant it like that?", she asked him with a cracked voice and bowed her head, "I didn't mean to give you such an impression ..."

"That was no insult Laura", he told her with a gentle voice and she rose her eyes again to look at him, "I honestly would like to know, how I can help you otherwise."

His eyebrows were slightly furrowed and a concerned expression written over his face. A small smile spread on her lips.

"Actually you already helped me with a few ones", she told him and the smile became a wide grin. She pulled her legs onto the bed and moved to sit beside Godric, resting her back against the headboard as well.

"How come?", he asked genuinely surprised and rose his eyebrows. His head was still turned in her direction and she could see, how his gaze quickly roamed over her body once.

"Our first encounter was quite a special day for me", she admitted and let her eyes wander about his body as well, to let him know, that his examination hadn't stayed unnoticed, "It earned me three hooks for my list!"

"And which points would that be?", he asked interested and chuckled while he slightly shook head. Blood was starting to drip from his nose again, but before it had the chance to drop on his chest or Eric's hair, Laura's hand had shot forward and swiped it away carefully with her index finger. She just wanted to withdraw her hand again, as Godric grabbed it and licked the blood from her finger.

An awkward silence settled in the room, as he released her hand again and leant his head back against the headboard again. He hadn't been licking up his blood when he had swiped it away himself, so he obviously had considered she would be tempted to taste it and wanted to prevent it.

Perfect. From money-hungry to blood-thirsty. What a nice picture he had of her...

"In this order it has been: 'Meet a vampire and talk to him or her'", she started to list, to distract her thoughts and simultaneously counted with her fingers, "'Sing in front of an audience' - though it was just an one-man audience it still counts! And the last one was 'Make a stranger smile'."

She rested her head on the headboard and stared at the ceiling, because she didn't really want to be confronted with Godric's piercing eyes right now. A few minutes had passed until she realized, that the room was completely silent and when she turned her head to look at the two vampires, a wide grin spread on her mouth.

Godric's hand rested on Eric's head and both men were sleeping with a peaceful expression on their faces and a faint smile on their lips.

* * *

><p><strong>AN**: I hope you liked this one - I'm still quite busy, so it will take some time to write the next chapter - sorry :(

A big thanks to everyone who took the time to leave a review - I really appreciate your thoughts!

Please feel free to tell me of any mistakes I have made - I'm no native English speaker and not living in a country where it's spoken either, so you'd really help a lot ;)

Thanks for reading!


	5. Chapter 5

When Godric awoke the next night, he could sense the light of the still radiating lamp, even before he opened his eyes. His progeny's head lay on his chest, exactly like it had been, when he had fallen asleep in the morning and would be remaining in this position for another two or three hours.

With his age he had not only gained immense power, but also the ability to rise before dawn. Disappointingly it had no impact on his sunlight intolerance - as he had to ascertain on the hard way, a few decades ago - therefore he was bound to stay inside during his first awake hours every night. Aside from occasionally lingering humans, his underlings had brought to his home, he was usually alone during this time of the day and often took the advantage to read some of his old scriptures, or listen to classical music.

Lately he also gave popular music a chance. Since he had approached Laura, he had searched for every song he had heard her sing the night he had met her. It was a nice occupation while he was still on the scout and when he finally had gathered every tune, he listened to them in an endless loop. Though the topics were not particularly encouraging, they made him feel at ease and strangely linked to this young human.

It was only when he tried to move, that he realized a faint weight on his shoulder. Surprised he turned his head to look for its cause and could not resist to smile slightly at the sight.

Obviously Laura had been too concerned about him, to leave his side and had fallen asleep during her guard over him. Now that he was aware of it, he could not understand how the feeling of her warm cheek against his cool skin could have ever been unnoticed by him. He relaxed and lay back against the cushions again, to remain at her side for a few more minutes, cherishing this moment.

His thoughts circled around the conversation they had had in the morning, before sleep had overwhelmed him. She had seemed really hurt, when he had asked her how he could help her with her aims, if not with his money and it pained him, that he had caused such an expression on her beautiful face.

Her face. It was the second thing that had attracted his attention. When he first lay his eyes on her, the street lights had barely lit it, but with his supernatural sight he was still able to see every single one of her eyelashes. They were dark and long and seemed to caress her cheeks when she moved her eyes under her closed lids.

She had been so smitten with the music, that he had to wait a few minutes until she finally opened her eyes and although they had held a surprised or rather shocked expression, they nonetheless mesmerized him with their blue shades. The hue had reminded him of a Central American bird species - the Thraupis episcopus - and as he now thought about it, it certainly was no coincidence, that his first notion had been a bird. Since the very first moment he had had the feeling, that she wanted to be more than she was, that she wanted to improve herself further - that she wanted to fly above all others.

As far as he was concerned she already was more than any other human. Never before had anyone accomplished to occupy his mind for such a long time - not even Eric. He just had to follow him for a month, until he got the chance to turn him - and certainly he had used it.

With a sigh he carefully lifted her head up from his shoulder and placed it on the cushion he had laid on. His son, on the other hand was dead for the day and it wasn't necessary to be overly gentle with him. He just slipped out beneath him and let him roll back onto the mattress.

Godric was just looking through his progeny's shirts, to see if there was one that would fit him, when a cell phone started to ring. Immediately he recognized, that the sound resonated from Laura's purse, which laid abandoned on the floor beside the bed and he decided to relocate it to the living room, so the young woman's sleep wouldn't be disturbed.

He returned to the bedroom to continue his search for a fitting shirt, but when he heard the device start to ring for the third time, he resolved on answering the call. Within the blink of an eye he was outside again and rummaged about Laura's bag hurriedly.

When he finally found the device, he quickly glanced at the screen for a moment, where it said "Patrick" and pressed the green button.

"Gosh, Laurie - you're quite hard to reach! Is everything OK? Why didn't you answer our calls yesterday? Your Gran and I had been worried sick!", he heard an agitated voice exclaim on the other end of the line, in an much too loud tone. A bit surprised about these new informations, his eyebrows rose in an very humanlike manner and he coughed slightly to stop the oral fluency of his interlocutor.

"I am afraid, I have to disappoint you - Laura is not available at the moment!", he told him with a calm voice and waited for a reply. He heard the boy - he at least assumed it was a boy, his voice sounded not completely mature - on the other end inhale sharply, before a deadly silence settled between them for a few moments.

"Who am I speaking to - if I may ask?!", this Patick-boy wanted to know hesitantly, but nonetheless unequivocally angry, "And how did you get a hold of Laura's cellphone?"

It was obvious that he was not very pleased to hear a male voice answer his friends phone, but to be honest, Godric was not very delighted either to listen to this kid, talking about Laura as if he knew her for quite some time.

But still he had to chuckle slightly - because after all it was him, who was separated from the sleeping beauty the boy desired to speak to, just through a lousy door.

"I am an acquaintance of her", he stated curtly and waited for the certainly following questions, with an amused grin. This conversation had definitely the potential to become quite interesting ...

"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?", he heard the now quite shrill voice of the kid resonate from the device and he would have laughed again, if his ears hadn't hurt that much, "WHERE is Laura? **WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO HER**?"

Somewhere in between Godric had fortunately decided to put at least an arm-length between his ear and the phone, otherwise his aural sense would have severely suffered.

"My name is Godric and I have not done anything to Laura - she is merely sleeping at the moment", he explained to the boy with a soothing voice, as he dared to bring the device closer to his head again, "And it would be nice if you could calm your voice - my ears are quite sensitive ..."

Silence settled again. Should he err on the side of caution and better distance himself from the speaker again?

"Then this Eric-guy found you ...", was all he heard him murmur in a low voice after a few moments. Obviously he was trying to oblige his request to keep his voice low, but how did he know about his Child? And why did he know about his disappearance in the first place? Had Laura told him?

He coughed uneasily to distract himself from his thoughts. "Did Laura mention me?", he asked in a monotone voice to quench his curiosity. He felt like a nosy little boy for asking something like that, but he simply _had to_ take this opportunity.

Now it was the boys turn to laugh. "Mention?", he asked disbelievingly, "She talked quite a bit about you, man! She was really worried ..."

He was not very surprised to hear that, after all she had put some effort to reason him out of meeting the sun and when she appeared at his nest, he knew that Eric had been in touch with her. Surely he had told her about his disappearance, maybe he had even interrogated her about his whereabouts.

But to hear this boy mention so carelessly, that she had been worrying about him, made an odd feeling spread inside of him. Something like gratitude and ... relieve?!

Why was he relieved that this woman had been worrying about him? She should not bother about someone with a blood-soaked past like his - and he had no right to hope for such feelings!

He was about to reply something when a rustling noise caught his attention and he turned his head in the direction of the just opening door.

Laura stood between the two rooms in the doorframe and rubbed her still tired looking eyes. Her dark golden hair stood messily off her head, although she tried to trim it and one of her shoulders was bare, because the red fabric of her dress had slipped down over it.

"Who are you talking to?", she asked with a low voice and pulled her sleeve up again, while her eyes examined him questioningly. Their blue shades were mesmerizing and he had the feeling, as if he would be summoned by them. Absentmindedly he strode through the room and came to a halt in front of her.

"Your friend was quite persistent He called three times until I decided to answer the phone - I believe his name is Patrick", Godric told her veridically and held the device out to her. With her questioning glare still sticking to his face, she hesitantly took the phone, while a loud "Dude - are you still there?!" resounded in the otherwise totally silent room.

Though Godric was not particularly amused to be called "Dude", he smiled, as he saw how hard Laura tried to stifle a laugh after the statement of her friend. Maybe it wasn't too bad to be called like that, if it made her react in such a pleasant way …

"You call Godric '_Dude_'?", she asked the boy in a factitiously appalled voice, while she simultaneously winked at said vampire, "What's wrong with you?"

She strolled to the couch, let herself drop into the cushions and tucked up her bare legs to sit there, comfortably curled up in a ball. Obviously she had got rid of the ruined tights she had apparently received from his over-officious son - but he had to admit, that his taste was remarkable. It was hard to resist the urge to touch her smooth looking skin, but when he thought of the expression on her face, only seconds after he had done so the last night, it wasn't that difficult any more.

He reminded himself, that he was not a greedy savage who simply took whatever he wanted anymore. His caresses would just cause her to be deterred by him and that was the last thing he wanted. Sitting beside her was all he would allow himself, at least for now ...

"What's wrong with me?", he heard the boy's disbelieving voice ask through the device in Laura's hand, which she held - in wise foresight - an arm length away, "**WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?! **SLEEPING WHILE A VAMPIRE IS PRESENT - **_ARE YOU NUTS?!_**"

Her eyes moved to linger questioning on Godrics face after these raptures of her friend, but when he just shrugged his shoulders with an apologetic expression she simply smiled and made a derogatory hand movement.

"Are you finished with your lectures?", she asked this Patrick-boy in a bored manner, while she held the microphone of her device to her mouth and continued in a teasing voice, "It may interest you to hear, that it wasn't just _one_ vampire but _two_ and they weren't just '_present_' but _shared a bed with me _…"

She giggled and once again winked at Godric when they heard an "**ARE YOU COMPLETELY INSANE?**" from the other end of the line. With one arm wrapped around her knees and the other holding her cell phone to safety distance, she sat there and grinned at his certainly also quite amused looking face, while her friend ranted on the phone.

"Have you calmed down already?", she asked with a honeyed voice when they heard the boys tone soften after a while.

"Yeah, yeah - whatever …", Patrick replied miffed, "Have you at least asked him about his blood?"

This question made Laura and Godric simultaneously tense up and changed the mood in the room rapidly. What did he mean by that? Was he aware of the healing qualities, the blood of his kind possessed? Did Laura know?

"I thought we already settled that?!", he heard Laura state in an angry tone, while she leapt up and started to pace about the room, "I'm not going to. That's ridiculous - we're not just talking about the flu or something! I have terminal cancer - it's high time for you to accept the fact that I'm going to die. LIEVE IT ALONE!"

Her voice had started to tremble after her second sentence and her movements had become more erratic. It was obvious, that she did not consider whatever he had implied a good idea and it seemed to have offended her deeply.

"It's not just curing the flu - also other much more severe infections …", her friend tried to argue but she just clenched her fist and boxed frustrated against the wall. Godric was beside her within the blink of an eye and had caught her hand before it could have struck again. But before he had the chance to examine her knuckles, she angrily withdrew her hand and turned her back on him to start pacing about the room again.

"**FUCK IT - PATRICK!**", she jelled into the phone exasperatedly and caused Godric to - against better judgement - seek her proximity again, but she kept him with her hand at bay when he tried to sooth her.

"You will listen to me now, boy - and listen carefully - I'm certainly not going to repeat this", she stated through gritted teeth and leaned against the wall, "I will not cling to a hope just to be disappointed again in the end. I may consider Godric my friend, but that doesn't mean that he feels the same and I'm surely not going to ask him something like that. Would our situation be the other way around, I'd feel exploited if he did and thats the last I want him to feel …"

While talking to her friend, she had been sliding down the wall and now she sat huddled on the floor. Her charming eyes were closed and her face held a pained expression, while she sighed after the last words had left her mouth.

"Lala … _please_ - I - ", he heard the pleading voice of the boy on the other end of the line and his tone held far less confidence than a few minutes ago. "Stop it", Laura interrupted him tiredly but still sharp, "It was nice to hear you, but I think we talked enough for one night - bye Patrick!"

Before her friend had the time to reply anything she had hung up and thrown her cell phone frustrated across the room. But it never shattered on the floor. Godric had caught it in mid-flight and stood on the other side of the parlor now, waiting for her to say something.

"You have heard everything, I suppose?", she asked with a cracked voice, when she looked up after a few moments of silence. Godric nodded, but otherwise did not move at all.

When he noticed her glance scurry quickly over his torso once, he became aware again, that he still did not wear a shirt. His one still had to be in her suit and as soon as this matter was settled, he would ask her to fetch it. Although she didn't seem to be displeased by his appearance, he could sense her embarrassment and it was disconcerting to be the cause for such a feeling - even if it suited her in some way...

"Only a few days after I mentioned you the first me, he came up with this absurd idea, that drinking your blood would somehow save me", she explained in a low voice, while her eyes were blankly staring at the floor, "But although I told him, that I didn't give a shit about what's written in these 'vampire-knowing' blogs and papers and that I certainly would never ask you for a few drops of your blood, he kept being persistent ..."

Godric studied her expressionless face intently, to get at least a hint of what she was thinking right now, but it was in vain. This was how Isabel had to feel whenever she tried to figure him out - and it wasn't pleasant at all to experience it from this perspective. Her blue shaded eyes still stared stubbornly at the parquet floor and her arms clenched her knees as if her life depended on it.

"Our blood indeed holds a few qualities", he noted carefully and started to stride slowly in her direction, "Among other things it really has the ability to heal certain diseases."

She lifted her eyes and sighed quietly, when he came to a halt before her. Her face held a pained expression again, as she stared at him and her heart hammered loudly against her chest.

"I don't want your blood Godric", she whispered and turned her head away, but he was still able to see how she shut her eyes tightly, "Please don't think of me like that ..."

He slowly crouched in front of her to be on her eye level, but she still did not look at him. Before he could think of a reason not to do it, the index finger of his right hand had settled under her chin, while his thumb stroked gently over the dimple under her bottom lip and he forced her to face him with soft power.

"I would not disdain you, if you would want to try it", he told her in a soothing voice and as soon as she opened them, he looked deeply into her eyes to glamour her a bit, so she would be able to calm down again. Her heartbeat immediately decreased to a normal frequency, but she obviously recognized what he had done, because she averted her gaze.

"You would not?", she asked disbelievingly and stared at the floor once more, as if it was the most amazing thing, "But I would be disgusted with myself, if I'd even consider to make use of you in such an unashamed way ..."

A chuckle escaped his mouth and apparently it was the best way he could have reacted, because her glance darted perplexed to his face again. He tried to give her a warm smile, but as he was quite out of practice, he was not sure if it looked as reassuringly, as he wanted it to.

Only when his thumb absentmindedly stroked over her bottom lip, he recognized, that his fingers still held her chin and reluctantly let go of it.

"Is it comfortable to sit of the floor?", he asked in a mocking tone and held his hand to her, while he got up "I suppose a soft seating accommodation is much more to your liking, is it not?"

She hesitantly laid her hand in his and with a gentle hitch he pulled her to her feet and steered her slowly to the center of the room again, where she dropped relieved into the cushions.

"I'm glad you aren't mad at me ...", she muttered, as her cheeks blushed to a rosy color, which caused her to avert her head in an ashamed manner.

A smirk spread on his face while he sat down next to this extraordinary, young woman. If she really had reckoned he would be mad at her, just because her friend had mentioned his unsolicited opinion, she really did not have the faintest idea how highly he thought of her.

"I could not get mad at you so easily", he assured her, while he leant against the backrest and thinking of what she had said earlier, he continued with a smile, "After all you are a friend of mine."

With closed eyes, he savored the immediate proximity to her and the comfortable silence, that had settled around them. The soul sources of sound, were Laura's constant heartbeat and her breathing and they had an unknown soothing effect on him.

Only when he sensed her gaze sticking to him, he opened his eyes again, to look questioning into her caught face.

"Where did you get those? - if it's not a too personal question to ask", she hurriedly babbled and gestured to the marks on his body, "I always thought you guys were invincible?! But how would it be possible to get inked if that was the case?"

"Well, that is easily explained: I got those marks when I was still human", he told her gently and looked down his body to said marks, "And we are not invincible. With enough force it is possible to open our skin, even if the source is not made of silver or wood. And do I really have to remind you of our major weakness?"

She just shook her head quietly and with damped mood, but as soon as her eyes ran over the mark on his biceps, her expression became interested again.

"Are those tribal signs then?", she asked in awe and crawled nearer to him to examine his marks at close range, "Do they have a meaning? - I'm sorry, if I'm too nosy! But I have a penchant for Tattoos - getting inked is also on my list, by the way ..."

"I am pleased, they appeal to you", he replied and shot Laura a glance before his attention returned to his upper arm, which was still under the watchful eye of her, "These are the runes the Druid picked for my initiation ceremony. They already held a hint of what was to come, but I was not able to recognize it then."

He looked up to eye Laura, while he slowly brushed over his collar tattoo with his fingers. Her expression was curious and she watched his movements intently.

"This is a simple pectoral mark. It symbolizes power", he explained and tuned his torso, to provide her a better sight on his other arm, "And this one was the sign of our tribe. We lived near the sea, therefore it symbolizes waves. Women also had this one, but usually only two rows."

His gaze had absentmindedly fallen to the zigzagging mark on his biceps and he was deep in thought, when he suddenly felt the touch of soft skin on his collarbone. His head snapped up to see what Laura was doing, but she seemed to be somehow captured in the moment.

Her fingers danced feather light over his skin and he really enjoyed the feeling, until the wish to touch her too, crossed his mind. With a jump he was situated on the other end of the couch and had at least brought a few inches distance between them.

Laura still sat in the middle, with her fingers in mid-air and looked a bit shocked at the spot he had been in, only seconds ago. When she slowly let it slip to her side again, her cheeks started to blush. Once again, she was embarrassed because of him. Now he could as well return to the subject beforehand ...

"I would like to explain some things about the blood of my kin. I want to inform you about the consequences, should you reconsider your decision and want to try it."

He had closed his eyes, but he could practically sense her glare. While he listened to the rustling she caused with changing her position, he also detected faint sounds from the bedroom. His son would be standing in the doorway at any moment.

"What do you mean?", she asked alarmed and when he opened his eyes, he saw her biting on her lower lip, "'Consequences' sounds quite harsh ..."

With a smooth motion he also pulled his legs onto the couch and leant against the armrest like Laura did, to face her fully. She was curled up in a ball again and had effectively buried herself in the cushions. Her eyes examined him, while the expression on her face screamed how uneasy she felt.

"As I already mentioned, our blood possesses certain qualities - beside the ability to heal", he started to explain in a gentle voice, "I do not want to deter you - I simply want to tell you about the side effects as well."

Her face still held an uncomfortable expression, but she nodded hesitantly, to let him know, that he could continue. But just as he wanted to do so, he heard something which caused him to turn his head and the next moment the bedroom door opened and Eric stood there, leant against the frame.

"What happened to 'the blood is sacred'?", his son mocked and crossed his arms over the chest. One of his blonde eyebrows was quirked and something in his challenging look let Godric doubt his own judgement 1000 years ago. How could he ever have considered it a good idea to turn this obstreperous Viking?!

"It was necessary to phrase it in a way you would comply with - otherwise every woman who ever had managed to get in your bed and was lucky enough to be able to leave it alive, would have been linked to you", he replied dryly and gave his son a bored look, "Sooner or later, you would have certainly lost your mind in this storm of feelings. I never intended to be the maker of a fool, therefore I had to impose certain rules on you."

The body language of his progeny had changed drastically. His hands were now buried in the pockets of his trousers and his head was bowed. The challenging look he had worn only moments ago, was now replaced by a submissive one.

"I am sorry master", his son apologized and adumbrated a bow, "My statement was inappropriate."

Only when he heard her gulping, Godric's attention turned to Laura again. Her eyes were wide and glued to him, while her incisors bit down on her bottom lip once more. The blend of surprise and awe on her face told him, that she had not expected him - or maybe both of them - to react like that.

"As I just mentioned, one side effect is - and it is surely one of the most important for you - that the vampire whose blood you drink, can feel whatever you feel for an unknown period of time", he tried to return to his explanations as if Eric never had interrupted him, "It depends on the vampire and how potent his blood is. The older the vampire, the more power the blood possesses."

"So your blood would be quite powerful, I suppose ...", she muttered and averted her gaze, obviously deep in thought.

"Godric is one of the oldest vampires in the new world", Eric interposed and eyed the young woman intently, "You should feel honored, that he offered you his blood!"

"He never said anything like that", she clarified immediately and looked stubbornly at the Viking.

"Then you should keep in mind, that Godric never does anything without purpose", his son explained to her, as if he was talking to a three year old, "If he takes his time to tell you about the effects, it implies, that he considers you worthy of his blood"

"Eric!", Godric advised his son sharply, but still didn't avert his gaze from the charming human before him, who was obviously embarrassed once again, "It is not necessary."

The Viking just stared blankly at him for a moment, but nodded silently.

"Are there other effects?", she asked subdued and buried herself even deeper into the cushions.

"The vampire would also be aware of your whereabouts and could locate you at any time, which could be bad for you, if he or she does not mean well by you, but could also be advantageous if you were in danger", he resumed patiently. "You also would feel stronger after consuming our blood and it would increase your senses."

"And the moral of this story is, to think twice whose blood you accept", Eric concluded and pushed himself off the doorframe. With slow strides he moved, under Godric's watchful eye, in her direction and crouched before her.

Her eyes were wide as she looked down at him with a confused expression. "You should really consider his offer, Tiny", he advised her in a gentle voice, "It's worth a shot."

Godric silently watched their interaction and had to admit, that he felt pleased about the efforts his son made to persuade her, though he did no t like the thought, that she had to be convinced in the first place.

"I can't sympathize with the idea, that someone else knows my every feeling", she whispered apologetic. Eric examined her for a moment, but nodded after a while and stood up again, with a questioning glare on his face directed at his maker.

"Do not feel forced to make a decision now, young one", Godric addressed the petit woman before him, "The offer remains."

He was surprised by the disappointment he felt, but nonetheless he tried to smile reassuringly at her. It was comprehensible why she had difficulties with the idea of digesting his blood and he had to reminded himself, that she did not explicitly say 'no', now that she knew he would be willing to offer.

With a faint smile on her face, she nodded slightly and the grateful look she bestowed on him immediately compensated the unpleasant feelings she had caused.

"Does anyone of you two know where I left my purse yesterday?", Laura asked in a low voice, while she started to massage her temples. Godric immediately sped around the couch and lifted her bag from the spot he had put it in, after extracting her cell phone. After handing it to her, she rummaged through it and pulled a plastic bottle out after a while.

As the content obviously consisted of pills, Godric concluded, that she wanted to take her medicine. Because he was aware, that humans liked to gulp tablets down with water, he went to the refrigerator to get her a bottle of water and returned with the cool liquid just a few seconds later.

With a soft 'thanks' she took it from him, dropped two pills on her half extended tongue and washed them down with the water.

"Though it's not going to be the reason for my death, the headaches are still unpleasant ...", she mumbled and closed her eyes, as she had laid her head back against the backrest.

"Do they appear often?", Godric asked her gently, but when she did not answer after a while, Eric took over.

"It's one of her main symptoms", his son informed him casually, "But as she also had to deal with it the last time, she already knows how to ignore the pain to some extend."

"What does 'the last time' mean?", he demanded to know in a slightly rougher voice now. It displeased him, that his progeny knew more about Laura than he did. But that was a matter that could be changed easily ...

"Did she not tell you?", Eric asked confused, and glanced at the young woman for a moment, who just shook her head, "She was first diagnosed with cancer when she was 15. They operated immediately and were content they had extracted the whole tumor, but the process injured the brain area it was in. It took her a year to recover, but they thought she had rode it out.

"Half a year ago, they diagnosed it again. It would be operable but there is a high chance she would loose her sight in the process and they are not even sure if they would be able to extract if fully. She decided against an operation and they gave her a year - one and a half at most."

"That's why I left home", she interposed, "My parents don't agree with my decision and it's impossible to enjoy my remaining time with the two of them constantly telling me what to do. The only family member who understands me, is my Grandma. She allowed me to stay in her flat here in Dallas, as it has been vacant anyway for a while now ..."

Godric silently watched as she gently took her cellphone, he had put down on the couch table previously. "I think I'm going to call her now - she surely is a bit worried because I didn't answer my phone yesterday", she murmured and darted a glance at him, "Do you mind if I return to my room for a while? I'd also like to return home tonight - I think Eric has spent enough money on me ..."

After he had simply nodded, she stood up, grabbed her purse and bid her farewell. When the door closed behind her, the two vampires silently looked at each other.

As she had mentioned that she wished to return to her residence, he became aware again, that his home had been devastated. It was high time he thought about his future plans ...

"I would be glad if you'd decide to come to Shreveport with me!", Eric told him, as if he had read his thoughts. The thousand years his son had spent with him, had taught him how to read his face. He was the only person who really knew him ...

"Thank you, Eric", he declared in a low voice and stood up to face his son from a more comfortable perspective, "It would be nice to reunite our family and I definitely will take you up on it.

"But for now I want to stay in Dallas - there is a young human I want to keep an eye on ..."

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** hey again :) I hope you liked this one - I'm afraid, it got a bit wordy ^^ but I didn't have the heart to cut anything out, sorry ;)

And what depends on the bird species I wrote about: I just _had to_ mention it :) I really liked it, when I saw it in real life on last years vacation and although I saw it only once, it was engraved in my memories. And as the color of it are lovely shades of grey and blue - just as I imagine Laura's eyes to be - I thought it was fitting (even if it isn't particularly common to compare eyes with birds ...)

So - I hope you keep reading and also leave a review :)

Till the next chapter ;)


	6. Chapter 6

With her hands on her hips after some time of excessive cleaning, Laura stood on one of the chairs around her dining table and surveyed the living room. She kept the apartment quite clean anyway, but it wasn't everyday routine, that a 1000++ year old vampire was visiting her. With his supernatural sight, he would certainly recognize every single speck of dust - so all she had to do, was making sure there was none to see!

But that was easier said than done. With a mob in her hands, she had been running through the flat for nearly two hours now and it had brought her to one simple conclusion: many square feet didn't only have advantages!

At first she had planned to just vacuum her place, but soon the feeling that she just whirled the dust up, appropriated her and while she took care of the next room, the particles slowly started to trickle down to the floor in the previous one. So basically she could have done her laps, vacuuming like a maniac throughout the day and still the dust would have won the upper hand.

But now, spotlessly wiped, the apartment looked really neat. In fact the floor was so meticulously clean, that one could even have eaten off it - though she wouldn't recommend that, due to the cleaning agents she had used …

Godric's True Blood, which she had bought in the afternoon as an 8-pack, was securely stowed in the fridge and a glance at the clock told her, that the sun would be setting in about half an hour. So she had enough time to stack her stuff together for a last time (or rather to mold it into perfect shape) and even take a quick shower before he would show up.

Eric had decided to stay a few days longer, to spend some more time with his maker. However, he would really be leaving today, because he needed to take care of his business again and that was why Godric would have plenty of time for her - now that he was released from his sheriff duties.

The huge one was severely worried about his maker, that was why she would be his eyes and ears while he was absent. He had called her two days ago to ask her to check on Godric and inform him about any conspicuity – whatever that would be – and he had actually really requested her help and not commanded her to, as he usually did. Needless to say, that she had agreed to look out for his maker, after all she had planned to do so anyway.

Laura had spent the last couple of days pursuing her passions once again. Above all, she had drawn a lot - but no matter which motive she actually originally had in mind, somehow Godric's face had always managed to creep onto the paper. From some of her sketches even Eric grinned towards her - but with the intense experiences she had witnessed with the two vampires, she was not overly surprised about it.

It was just a bit embarrassing and that was the reason, why she had shipped all the sketches of the past few days into a small binder. Said binder now built the foundation for one of her perfectly balanced stacks, therefore it was situated quite inaccessible and hence safe.

Reassured by the fact, that it would now be impossible for Godric to accidentally stumble upon one of her doodles, she made her way to the bathroom and hopped under the shower. Just as she creamed her body with shower gel, she heard a high-pitched noise, but shrugged it off as imagination. However, when she heard the same noise again, a few moments later, she realized that it had to be her bell.

If she would have only been a little more social, she'd already invited someone by now and recognized that it was her bell right the first time she had heard the shrill sound. Shit!

As if stung by a tarantula, she jumped out of the shower and quickly wrapped herself in the first towel she could grab. She didn't even take the time to rub herself dry, but stormed immediately into the hallway and tore the apartment door open in a rush. She stared at the spot in front of her entrance and there was - ... nothing.

Confused, she stuck her head out and looked left and right, but all she could see were the front doors of her neighbors and the staircase. The main entrance had to be still unlocked at this time of day, so where the hell was he?

"Godric?", her voice echoed questioningly through the building.

Damn it!

Had her ears really played their pranks and betrayed her? Or was it a new symptom of the tumor? The medics had told her, that it could influence all her senses with time. Could she really no longer rely on her eyes and ears?

She was just about to slam the door shut behind her in an upset manner, as - in the last moment - Godric appeared out of nowhere, standing perfectly relaxed in front of her.

His skin was pale as ever and foolishly reminded her of porcelain, but this feature brought his attentive eyes all the more to bear. The hint of a smile hovered around his mouth as he laid eyes on her and gave her an appreciative nod.

"Pardon me, if I am too early," his soothing voice reached her ears and she noticed that he examined her with a slightly irritated look, "I can come back later..."

Obviously her attire confused him. Welcoming a vampire soaking wet and clothed in just a towel, had never been her plan, but Godric's delightfully puzzled face caused her to consider contracting it a habit.

"No, no, no! Please feel free to come in, Godric - I obviously lost track of time!"

She stepped aside to let the oldest person she would probably ever meet, enter her residence. He looked around carefully and seemed to memorize even the minutest detail. Good thing she had cleaned up ...

"Very tidy ..." he stated, as he stepped into the living room and looked around extensively. "May I?" He asked, pointing to the silk-covered sofa in the center. It was Biedermeier-style, as well as the chairs that stood beside it, around the couch table. The fabric had a sunflower yellow color with light orange plants woven into and the armrests and feet of each peace of furniture, were of a dark wood and craved skillfully.

Laura just nodded wordlessly and padded, still wet, to the fridge. The open kitchen-area was integrated into the living room and just separated through a bar-like unit. Also made of dark wood, but quite new and kept in a modern style, it contrasted with the couch area. This new-beside-old pattern ran like a red thread throughout the apartment - new bright wooded, extandable dining table, surrounded by old, cushioned chairs - old and heavy writing desk but a new quite filigree looking bookshelf beside it -...

"What blood type would you like to drink?", she asked, as she inspected the six-pack she had withdrawn from the fridge in more detail, "I have bought a various-pack, because I forgot to ask you, which one you prefer."

She looked over the bottleneck in her hand into his direction and was greeted with an ever inscrutable countenance on Godric's face. „You would not have needed to do that", he told her in a low voice, as he averted his gaze and seemed to survey the pile of books and magazines on the table before him, „I do not require much blood any more."

„I know that I didn't have to, but it's the right thing to do as your host", she replied stubbornly, but continued in a softer voice, looking him over with a slightly concerned expression, „And even if you don't need it, it wouldn't hurt to drink some, would it? We humans wouldn't need to eat every day either, still we usually enjoy at least two meals a day, most of the ones who can afford it, even three or more."

His eyes darted into her direction again and examined her blatantly. "Have you already had your two meals today?"

The aridity of his voice nearly made her gulp, but she resisted the urge to moisten her dry throat and coughed slightly instead. "Just breakfast", she confessed honestly and withstood his boring glare, "My headache got worse in the afternoon so I took some analgesics, which don't assort well with food."

His attention roamed back to the pile in front of him and he seemed deep in thought as his hand wiped carefully over the leather cover of the book on top. It was the tickler with blank sheets, she used to write her favorite song texts into. Each double page held neatly written lyrics and some doodles based on the content of the song.

She sighed a bit frustrated about the lack of attention he paid to her. „If you don't tell me which one you'd like to have near-term, I'll just take the next best", she informed him dryly and turned around to open the microwave, emphasizing her intention, „And I'm surely not going to drink it – mind you!"

She first heard him chuckle and next the distinct sound, the springs of the old sofa made when someone stood up, caught her attention. But before she could turn her head to look, what Godric was up to, he was standing beside her and inspected the True Bloods. His finger tipped onto each crown cap, as if he'd dither between them.

„0+ it is then", he sighed, grabbed said bottle, opened it and put it into the microwave. After he had pressed the ‚Start'-button, he leant back against the kitchen unit beside her, with his arms crossed in front of his chest.

„Huh", was all she said about it and her voice sounded equally surprised and assured. „What?", the young looking vampire asked her amused and eyed her questioningly while he waited for his drink to warm up.

„It's nothing. Patrick just told me once, that one of these silly vampire-knowing magazines wrote, that you'd favor rare blood types, such as B- or AB-", she disclosed with a huge grin on her face, „I'll really enjoy briefing him about the misinformation this shabby journal distributed!"

Godric just stood there like an ice statue and glanced asquint at her, as if he kew something she didn't. However, just as she wanted to ask him what it was about, the microwave peeped, informing them, that his blood was ready.

She quickly bent forward to open the device and withdrew the body warm bottle. Curious she sniffed at the red liquid but grimaced when the metallic odor hit her. She heard Godric cuckle slightly while she closed the door of the microwave again and stretched for a glass in one of the upper shelfs. Just as she turned to hand both – bottle and glass – to Godric, she felt the towel covering her body loosen!

She would have let everything drop to the floor, just to spare herself the embarrassment, to stand completely bare before a person with such a perfect body, as the vampire in front of her was blessed with.

But it wasn't necessary.

Before she could have even _thought_ of dropping anything, a hand had dashed forward and grabbed the towel at the position, where one corner was about to slip out: directly above her breasts.

Needless to say, that this swift hand certainly hadn't been her own.

Shocked, she observed how his gaze slowly roamed upwards from her décolleté, until he met hers. While the fingers of one of his hands were still wrapped around the towel, holding it in the position it had so dutifully maintained until of late, the ones of the other closed tightly around the bottle in her right hand, casually brushing hers.

It took her a few moments to realize, that she was able to grab the towel herself, now that one of her hands was free and she blushed deeply, as she took hold of it. Godric let go within the same second and divested the glass of her other hand too.

„Forgive me, if I have crossed the line", he whispered, still capturing her gaze and only now she became aware of how close he was. Still deeply red she shook her head vigorously. „I'm glad you reacted! It would have been quite embarrassing otherwise …"

„I strongly doubt that", he simply stated and she could have sworn, she had caught a glimpse of a smirk, before he turned to head towards the sofa again. Shrugging to herself, she followed him and watched as he took a seat in the exact same spot as a few minutes ago. Carefully he placed the glass on the couch table and turned his head into her direction with a questioning expression on his face.

„Do you mind if I drink it directly from the bottle?", he asked politely and glanced at the glass in front of him again, „Most humans can not cope with the aspect of blood, even less with someone drinking it. Moreover, it would cool down much faster than in the heated flask."

„Feel free", she just laughed and approached his side. „Excuse me for a few moments - I'll just flit into the bathroom. It's high time I put some proper clothes on - to prevent another potential mishap. Make yourself at home", she informed him with a wink and without taking the time to wait for his reply, she darted out of the room and headed to the bath.

She was on the brink to start shivering and she didn't want Godric to witness that. When she had closed the bathroom door behind her, she finally rubbed her freezing body dry, which fortunately also stimulated her blood circulation. It wasn't surprising, that she hadn't felt the cold until just a few moments ago, with the analgesics she had swallowed today. It was alarming how numb she still was, but she was glad at least her mind was unclouded.

She was dry and dressed in her usual blouse & skirt outfit in no time and took the liberty of taming her unruly hair a bit. The damp of the shower had curled it irregularly, so she unceremoniously tied it to a Dutch braid with her practiced fingers.

After a short glance into the mirror, she decided to also apply a brown eyeliner. She wanted to be at least reasonably presentable when she returned to the living room, but she didn't mean to exaggerate it – and black eyeliner always gave her such a glamorous look, she couldn't quite cope with.

When she returned to the living room, she stopped in the doorframe for a few moments. Godric was flipping through her leather bound notebook, obviously intently studying its content.

"Do you plan to stay there for the rest of the night?", he asked her with a chuckle and raised his head to look at her. The book in his hands was closed and sat on the pile again within the blink of an eye and while Laura approached him slowly, he politely stood up. As gentlemen were a scarce species in her ag e, she was not used to such a behavior and blushed lightly. If he had worn a hat, she assumed he would have removed it too.

"You look lovely, Laura", he remarked as she had reached his side. She just muttered an embarrassed "thanks" and blushed even deeper, while they sat down beside each other.

„You didn't get very far", she noted, to draw his attention to something else and gestured to the still nearly full bottle on the couch table, „Is it as disgusting, as it smells?"

He bestowed a tired smile on her, grabbed the certainly already cold True Blood and choked a few gulps of the red liquid down halfheartedly. „It does not exactly taste like real blood, but it serves its purpose", he told her honestly, when he had placed the bottle on the table again. The pokerface he wore didn't give the slightest information away, how much its taste really differed from the real thing, but she assumed it was much worse than he let her know.

„When was the last time you drank real blood – if it's not a too personal question to ask", she wanted to know and surveyed his reaction intently. He closed his eyes and leant his torso back against the orange cushions she had placed onto the couch for more comfort. Only when the silence in the room, slowly started to let her feel uneasy, he began to talk.

„It is fine, young one. Feel free to ask whatever you want to know about me", he told her in his smooth voice, with his eyes still closed, „But know, that I will require an answer in return, for each question I respond to."

She just nodded a bit stunned and managed to voice an „It's noted" when she realized, that he couldn't see her. The hint of a smile played around the corners of his mouth, when he laid his head back against the backrest and opened his eyes to stare at the ceiling.

„The last time I tasted human blood, was before the '_Great Revelation_'", he told her matter-of-factly, while he seemed to examine the stucco on the ceiling. Her mouth opened involuntarily at this statement, but as soon as she noticed it, she quickly shut it again. She must have looked awkward – good thing the plafond was more interesting than her face …

„That was more than four years ago!", she exclaimed and eyed him with a raised brow, „You're sure you didn't slip up?" She had placed her legs Indian style on the couch and was turned in his direction to better survey his sparse reactions.

The small smile he had worn on his face developed into a smirk and while his eyes were still glued to the ceiling, his hand rose to show her two poised fingers.

„That would be your second question", he declared and turned his head to look into her face, „And therefore a second question you will have to answer me."

„So we're bargaining for answers now?", she asked amused and shook her head disbelievingly, „Well, then be it!"

He simply nodded and let his gaze roam to the True Blood bottle in front of him. „I am sure – in fact, it have been almost five years", he told her and leant forward to let his finger dance upon the glass of the bottle, „And to spare you another question: It has been at least twenty years, since I bit a human the last time ..."

„So you lived off canned food so to say", she stated dryly and watched as his fingers smoothly moved over the True Blood emblem. She wasn't really surprised by his statement. On the contrary – now it actually started to make sense. He really had to hate what he was for quite some time now, to live that way for so many years. She wondered if Eric knew...

„Well I'm all ears", she deadpanned to ease the atmosphere a bit, „What's your first question to me?"

She watched as he stopped his movements and leant back against the cushion, with his head slightly turned in her direction. He surveyed her intently before he put his question into words.

„Why did you choose to live here – all alone?"

His expression was stern and his quizzical eyes seemed to bore themselves into her. She sighed heavily and averted her gaze.

„Mostly because my parents have a lot of practise in making me do things, that I never wanted to", she answered in a whisper, after a few moments of silence had passed and stood up. She shortly glanced at Godric, whose expression was still the same and turned to walk to the kitchen area.

„I had dedicated most of my life to please them", she continued while she filled herself a glass of water and her voice cracked at her next words. „I miss them a lot since I decided to live here – but it is necessary to keep a distance between us. I fear to fall back into old habits if I don't..."

She hastily rubbed the bothersome tear away, she hadn't been able to hold back, while she still stood in front of the kitchen sink. It didn't feel right to talk with her back turned towards her dialogue partner, but she wasn't sure if there weren't more tears, which would bore their way over her cheeks.

And it was embarrassing and pathetic enough, while he couldn't directly see her crying. She had chosen to live here! But still it felt as if slowly etching acid was eating a hole into her chest, every time she thought of her parents.

Both of them refused to answer her calls, since she had decided to leave for Dallas. She hadn't talked to them for nearly two months now …

„But as I already told you, my Gran supports me a lot", she continued to explain, after she had taken a gulp of water to clam her voice a bit, „She doesn't only provide this apartment, but also sponsors me ..."

She tried to think of her Gran to distract her thoughts and improve her mood, but it didn't really work. They always turned back to pictures of her parents, eating dinner with her or playing board games ...

„Your Grandmother seems to be a very generous person", she heard Godric say and immediately covered her face, as she realized he was standing right behind her. "Forgive me for reminding you of events, that seem to hurt you …"

"You also talked about things, you didn't want to – we're even now", she muttered into her hands and nearly jumped as she felt his cool hand, stroking soothingly over her back in circular movements.

It had been such a long time since someone had touched her like that and it didn't help at all, that this particular person had been her mother. She bit on her lip and shut her eyes tightly in order to hold the tears back, that were about to slip over her cheeks, but it was in vain.

She silently stood there, grabbing a hold of the sink with one of her hands, as if it would keep her from drowning. Her other hand still covered her eyes while she silently cried until she had any tears left to spill.

All the while Godric hadn't left her side and continued to comfort her with his caressing touches. Not a single word had left his smooth lips, as if he exactly knew he wouldn't be able to ease her pain with anything he said.

When she finally had calmed down, she excused herself again to freshen herself up. By the time she returned to the living room, her eyes were still a bit red, but nearly back to normal. Godric was sitting in his spot on the couch again, but stood up once more, as soon as she entered the room. When she had reached his side, she recognized, that he obviously had finished his True Blood.

„Thank you", she whispered, as she picked it up and strode to the waste bin in the kitchen, where she sunk it. „What would you have to thank me for?", he asked confused and watched her questioningly, while she returned back to the couch.

„For drinking it. It gives me the impression, that you at least try ...", she answered in a low voice and bestowed a halfhearted smile on him. „And for comforting this tear-stained mess I've been ..."

„You are welcome", he simply stated with a slight smile and grazed over the back of the notebook on top of the pile again, before he lifted it up and carefully flipped through the pages. His face didn't give the slightest hint away of what was going on in this beautiful head of his, but the slight smile still playing around his mouth eased her worries a bit.

„I have to realize that you are gifted in many ways, Laura Freeman", he stated, as he stopped at a page and brushed tenderly with hist fingers over its surface. She blushed at his statement, but didn't bother to hide it and stretched to get a glimpse of the writings he was so particularly fond of. As she saw a sparrow resting on the earth on the root of an Oak Tree she knew exactly which songtext he was reading at the moment.

„I'm not that much of a writer – these are just a few of my favorite lyrics, I didn't compose them!", she explained while she closed in, to have a better look at the pages.

„I know", he told her in a low voice and turned his head to eye her with this disconcerting, inscrutable look on his face, „You sang it the night we met."

„You recognized it?", she asked surprised and couldn't help smiling.

„If I remember correctly, the composers were named '_Simon & Garfunkel_'", he continued but the hint of a question was audible. She nodded, still smiling brightly and gestured to the book in his hands. „May I?"

He wordlessly handed it to her and watched as she flitted to another page. „You remember this one too?", she asked and showed him a scene somewhere in the desert, with a rattlesnake and bones in the background and a flower in the front, slowly withering.

„Yes, '_Far from any road_'", he answered and chuckled slightly, „You played it when you finally realized I was listening to you. I also recognized these -"

His subtle fingers flipped the pages and showed her one song after the other until he stopped at a blank sheet. „- but I could not find '_Bowl of oranges_'"

His voice had sounded a bit disappointed and his inquisitive eyes seemed to pierce her. She closed the book carefully and put it back on top of the pile, before she turned to look at him again. „Well, I wasn't sure how to do justice to this great song. It's one of my all-time-favorites, but I just can't find any motives that would fit..."

„I understand", he replied with a knowing smile and leant back against the couch again, "A simple bowl with oranges would be insufficient."

„Did you already know these titles?", she asked curiously, as she couldn't hold it back any longer, after a few moments of complete silence had passed. A smile grew on her face, when he shook his head and an unforeseen warmth spread in her chest, as she pictured this gentle vampire beside her, looking up the songs she had sung.

„I still have a question left", he reminded her after they had sat next to each other for a few minutes, enjoying the comfortable silence between them and she simply nodded, a bit weary, thinking of how his last one ended.

„Which tasks are standing on your list?"

She blushed madly at the thought of exposing her whole list to him and shook her head frantically. „That one is too personal", she managed to voice and averted her face.

„Not even a few points? I do not need to know about every single one, just the next few, you plan to accomplish", he told her in a calm voice, as he bent forward to position his elbows on his knees, resting on them. His head was turned in her direction and his eyes surveyed her every move as if he was a predator and she were his prey. In some way that probably were their true roles. How she wished he would inspect the ceiling again ...

"OK. But just a few!", she relented and sighed about her inability to deny him anything. "I think the next few would be _'Take a hot-air-balloon ride_' - preferably at sunset oder sunrise, _'Attend a ball or something comparable' _- because I didn't have a prom. My parents decided to teach me at home after my operation and forbade me to accompany Pat to his.

"Then _'See a few places in Europe'_ would be also something I'd like to accomplish soon - actually my Gran and I plan to do that in a few weeks, but we haven't set any particular date jet. She'll also sponsor the trip."

His expression turned from unfathomable to disgruntled as he stared at her with slight disbelief.

"So it is legit for you to accept your Grandmothers money, but if I suggest to offer you mine, you are offended?", he asked dryly, but it was more of a statement. He had risen one of his brows and showed her an unfazed expression. "_Hypocrite_."

"Well, that's a bit harsh", she stated and a worried line emerged on her forehead, "She is family – I am her _Grandchild_ – for crying out loud! Why would you want to spend money on me anyway?"

He averted his gaze and eyed the floor instead, rubbing his temples in slow circles. "You also accepted Eric's gifts", he reminded her with a rough voice, as if he was offended. Could that have been the case?

"I intend to give them back – and replace the tights I ruined", she defended herself stubbornly, "I've already bundled everything in a packet – ready to ship, as he wasn't bent on collecting it himself. This stubborn giant just refuses to come out with his adress!"

She watched the Vampire beside her shake his head, but still simultaneously massage his temples. "And what would he do with a red dress and jewelry?", he asked her in a humourless tone, "It definitely is not Pamelas style and he will certainly not wear it himself – for various reasons. So why would you want to send it back to him? He obviously has no use for it!"

"Who is Pamela?"

"Do not try to change the subject!", he demanded in a harsh tone and started to quicken his circling movements. "Your stubbornness causes me headaches. I did not have any since Eric finally fathomed what it connoted to stay unnoticed..."

"I'm not used to receive gifts", she admitted with a tiny voice and averted her gaze, biting down on her bottom lip, "And I don't really understand why he did present me with such expensive bestowments. I mean, I'd understand if he had gifted me after the rooftop incident, but he gave them to me beforehand. I don't -"

"I think you underestimate the bond between maker and progeny", she heard Godric's pervasive voice interrupt her and turned to look at him again. His haunting eyes were directed at her face and the serious expression on his, nearly made her shudder.

"We have been companions for over thousand years now. I have taught him how to survive, how to live. We have gone through the highs and lows of history together. We shared our meals and amusements. He has taught me how to trust, rely on and care for someone else.

"He knew, I had been ... let's name it_ 'depressed'_ for the lack of a better fitting word - and he recognized, that you had managed to enlighten my mood for once in decades. Eric and I had not been in touch for more than 60 years, but he appeared the night after I met you, demanding to know what or who had made me feel happy the night before. I told him your name, knowing - _hoping_ - he would look for you sooner or later. And I'm glad he did."

This time he witnessed how her mouth slightly fell open, awestruck by what he had told her of. He was right, she really had underestimated their relationship and once again, she was reminded of how little she knew about the two Vampires. How little she understood them – especially the one beside her...

The unfathomable expression in his fern green eyes troubled her a bit, but she gulped her worries down. "I am sorry. I really didn't understand -"

"How could you have?", he interrupted her again, but a lot softer than before and closed his eyes tiredly, "Please do not reject his gifts. Like me, he is from a different time and would not take it lightly. He just wishes to show you his gratitude, not just for what you did on this rooftop. And let me tell you - it does not occur very often, that my prideful Viking is inclined to show his thankfulness."

...so Eric was a Viking. Why she hadn't concluded that herself was beyond her - his ancestry couldn't have been more obvious. She had figured a Scandinavian origin behind those blue eyes and blond hair, but though she knew his age, the thought he could indeed be a Viking had never crossed her ignorant mind.

Only when Godric started to massage his temples again, with his eyes still closed, her mind came back to reality. Hesitantly she approached him, which caused him to turn his head in her direction and open his eyes again, questioningly staring at her.

"I'm not able to stand by and watch you spur your headache any longer", she told him with a gentle voice, grabbed his wrists carefully and lead them slowly to his sides, "Let me help you. It's the least I can do, if I'm really the cause..."

He seemed to be slightly surprised by her actions, but nodded in agreement, curiosity shining in his eyes.

"Lean your head back and try to relax. Preferably you should close your eyes as well."

After he had done what she'd requested him to, she stood up to round the couch and positioned herself behind the apparently calm vampire. His timelessly beautiful facial features seemed relaxed and not even his eyes moved under his lids – as hers often did, when she tried to fall asleep. The dark lashes laid absolutely motionless on his high cheekbones and she had to restrain herself from tracing his brows with one of her fingers.

Instead she put them on his temples, which caused him to tense up and look up at her for a few moments. But as he had adjusted to the feeling of her touch he relaxed and shut his eyes again.

She started to draw the skin under her fingers slowly upwards, parted and started anew from the same spot. "You should avoid circling movements if you have a headache", she explained in a low voice, "It just stirs the pain up."

She continued the procedure for a few minutes until he opened his eyes again and smiled at her. "The pain is gone. It seems you also have magic fingers", he chuckled while she started to round the couch to sit beside him again, "The list of your gifts continues to grow."

"Don't mock me!", she exclaimed and hit him playfully on the shoulder, as she had fallen down on the couch beside him, but couldn't prevent blushing. His face turned serious within the blink of an eye and she immediately wished she hadn't said thad out loud.

"I am honestly stunned by your talents", he told her gently and his mesmerizing eyes looked at her warmly, "Though I am not particularly fond of your stubbornness. I still wish to support your plans to travel the world – there are many places you should have seen..."

She eyed him intently, still feeling uncomfortable at the thought of him spending so much money on her, but suddenly a thought crossed her mind and a small smile spread on her lips.

"Do you have any plans for the next two or three months?"

"Not to my knowledge."

"Would you like to _'travel the world'_ with me and my Gran?", she asked and wasn't able to mask her excitement even a bit. He surely had seen a lot in his over 1000 years on this earth, he certainly would also know some the most beautiful places. She would be bound to explore the world mostly at night, but that was a compromise she'd gladly accept.

Godric's eyes had widened slighly and stared surprised at her. Well, that was something worth of standing on her list - like _'surprise a 1000++ year old vampire'_.

"Are you sure your Grandmother would not mind if I joined you?", he asked carefully and a line emerged between his eyebrows. He was obviously worried she had been too fast with her invitation, but what pleased her was the fact, that he didn't seem to be disinclined.

"She already voiced her wish to become acquainted with you", she told him, laughing about the thought her Gran would have objections against Godric accompanying them, "I think she'll actually like the idea!"

The disbelieving look on his face hadn't vanished jet, but he nodded slowly. "Then I will gladly join your travel party", he chuckled but continued in a more serious tone, "If I have your permission to compensate for our whole journey."

Her thoughts were so clouded by the happiness his answer had caused, that she didn't think twice and nodded vigorously. She had already worried about the fact, that nobody would have an eye on the young looking vampire while she was away. Actually she had already thought of canceling everything - but this development was much more to her liking...

* * *

><p><strong>AN: <strong>hey there :) I hope you're happy with this chapter, though I slowly but surely come to the conclusion, that I have to start learning, to keep it short ...

I'm sorry it turned out to be quite a serious update, but there simply were a few things they _had to_ sort out - there are obviously still a lot left, but I didn't want to pack them into this chapter as well, it's heavy enough as it is ...

Thanks again for the reviews - it's _most appreciated_!

I'll try to update soon, but will be quite busy during the next weeks and also translating the existing chapters to German (which is much easier than the other way around ...), so it could take me some time.

'Till then - please leave a review ;)


End file.
